Alternate Universe
by Zelia Theb
Summary: A new mission lands Yusuke and his team in an alternate plane of existence. Will they run into their alternate selves? How will Yusuke and Kurama keep their relationship a secret from Keiko and Hiei? [YusukeKurama][IndefiniteHiatus]
1. I: Anduromida

Alternate Universe

A _Yu Yu Hakusho_ fan-fiction

By Zelia Theb

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

The opinions expressed by the characters do not reflect the opinions of myself.

Warnings: Male-Male relationships, cursing, sexual situations, violence, tobacco, drug/alcohol use, and possibly other disturbing innuendo. **Rated R** for these reasons!

****

--------------

"Anduromida?" I question the open briefcase. I'm huddled around the silver communicator, along with all of the other spirit-detective tag-a-longs; Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and of course Botan (but it's _her_ briefcase, so she has to be here).

"Yes Yusuke," the baby answers through the static of the communication, "This is their logo." An image of a really hot chick in a torn dress completely bound in chains flashes on the screen.

"So whadda we gotta do now, run all over downtown looking for a building with a sign like that?" Kuwabara asks. He scratches his chin and mumbles, "That's seems easy enough…"

"Let Koenma finish, you lump," Hiei scolds my orange-haired classmate. Those two should do us all a favor and bare knuckle box…outside of my apartment.

"Not exactly, Kuwabara," the high pitched voice corrects, "Each gang member has a distinct tattoo of chains wrapped around both of their arms."

"Well that makes things a _hell_ of a lot harder," I say, rolling my eyes and stuffing my hands in the pockets of my green uniform.

"Yusuke! Quiet!" Botan yells. Whatever.

"Now here's the ones that we're after," Koenma continues, putting a halt to the bickering.

Footage of four guys, seemingly human, appears on the screen. They are gathered around the entrance to a cave, conversing about something or another. The picture is coming in really fuzzy and it's hard to make out any other details other than height and colors.

"Hey look!" Kuwabara points out, "Hiei's in this!" He points at the shortest guy on the monitor, right as it flickers back to Koenma's ugly sucker-face.

"Hn."

"Now, Kuwabara," Kurama politely invades the fight, as usual, "We wouldn't wish for Koenma to believe what you're saying, correct?"

"Right, Kurama!" Botan chimes in, "After all, where would we be without our precious little Hiei?" She attempts to hug him, but he swiftly moves to the side (I saw it comin'), and Botan embraces the floor.

"There is very limited information about them. All we know is that they have the ability to cross over different dimensions." Koenma folds his hands in front of him; "Essentially, they can travel to alternate universes."

"Whoa," the oaf next to me mutters as he rubs his head in thought, "Isn't that like those movies where the world is the same but it isn't because some different stuff happened?"

"Exactly. Maybe you should be the new detective, Kuwabara." Koenma brushes aside the blue ogre, who has tried to interrupt him several times with stacks of papers.

Patience is _not_ a virtue. I clench a fist and wave it at the screen, then shout, "Just get to the point already!"

"Well, the _other_ limited info that we _have_, Yusuke, is the name of a club that we suspect they run."

Koenma speaks on, informing us all about the club. We learn that it is in a city that is a forty-minute train ride from here. When he tells us the _nature_ of that club, and what we have to do in order to get in, that's when everyone freaks out.

"Yusuke! Everyone!" Botan screams over our bickering, "You _HAVE_ to pick someone!"

It's a gay bar. Not exactly high-class, but the bouncer is pretty damn good. And now everyone has to pick someone to…couple with.

"It's not that big of a deal, I'm coming over from Spirit World to help out myself," Koenma assures us, "Except that I get Botan!" He has a wide and ever-so-wicked grin plastered behind his rubber chew toy.

"I am a master of disguise!" Botan says, pointing a rather giddy finger into the air.

"I get Kurama," I say in unison with Kuwabara and Hiei. That was…weird. The four of us look at each other blankly, not exactly sure of how to break the awkward tension.

Hah, the look on Kurama's face at that moment was priceless, though.

"Yusuke wins," Koenma announces, much to the surprise of everyone. Hah. All mine. Eer…yeah.

"B…but!! A tall and handsome guy like _me_ can't go into a club with a shrimp like _that_!" Kuwabara protests, gripping at the air.

"So why didn't you choose Yusuke?" Botan asks him. Yeah, why _didn't_ you choose me, huh? Not like I care, but I'm not as bad as Hiei!

"'Cause, I'm still freaked out about that nasty dream where he wanted me to kiss him," Kuwabara replies smugly. I see him start to freak out as soon as he mentions it.

"Hey, I was dead and desperate!" I vouch. Ah well.

"What about _you_, Hiei?" the blue-haired girl asks, smirking. It's no secret that Hiei likes to steal glances at Kurama, well, it is to him, but obvious to me.

"Hn. Like I'd really want to be caught arm in arm with a human," he explains. That excuse gets really old after a while.

So what's my excuse?

That's the next question I expect from Botan, but she never asks. Whew, I really didn't have an answer lined up for that one. 'He's the first guy that came to mind' sounds a little gay. But…he was the first guy that came to mind. He always is.

"Yusuke gets Kurama, because after thinking about it, they may know Hiei, and face it Kuwabara; if the groups got separated, it wouldn't be safe."

"Unbelievable," Hiei scoffs, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"I'm pleased to know that I'm so popular," Kurama says, a playful smile creeping across his face.

"Plus, if it came down to it, you two wouldn't be able to play the part with a straight face, no pun intended," Koenma went on, "No matter what, Yusuke is the one that we need in the club."

"We're going to be there by midnight tonight. I'll be at your apartment, Yusuke, in two hours." Diaper boy suddenly poofs into his teenage form, then states in a more grown up tone of voice, "And I'll be bringing everyone their disguises. Peace out."

Peace…out?

What the hell…

He never even explained to us _why_ we have to stop these guys! Let them go to their other world, what the hell does it matter to us?

* * *

I can't believe that I'm wearing this.

I can't look any more ridiculous than anyone else, though.

Kuwabara is in black jeans and black collared shirt. Normal enough, but his _hair_, oh…I wish I had a camera. It's parted in the middle, and he let Botan put dark red stripes through it, _AND_ it's straightened.

"A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," he mutters over and over to himself. We are walking down a rain-washed street, and it's a quarter to midnight.

Hiei's in really tight clothing; a pair of jeans that looks like they're from the Seventies, and a tee shirt too small for baby Koenma. He looks like a puppy, what with the dog collar around his neck and all. Oh…it was the greatest thing, watching Botan try and catch Hiei to put that on him. Eventually Kurama grabbed him by the arms and held him in place as he squirmed. I knew he was enjoying the hold though. I know I would if I were him.

"Don't go running off on us now, puppy," I taunt him. He gives me a quick evil eye (not with that creepy third one, which is covered up by leather headband now…).

Botan has on a blue wig…her hair just looks shorter now. I'm not exactly sure how she managed to flatten that chest of hers out…but she did it. Damn, I wish I _did_ know. She dressed exactly the same as Koenma; black leather pants, a black tee, and a long black trench coat. Only Koenma's pacifier now glows in the dark.

You'd think we were going to the funeral of some renowned slave and master porn star. I wonder how far from the truth that is.

Kurama is also similar to the only hetero-pair among us, only that his shirt is made of see-through mesh. Very revealing. It's hard not to stare. Not that I _am_ staring… Okay Yusuke, _stop_ staring. He stares forward as we walk, his eyes outlined subtly in a charcoal liner.

"Koenma, you're an asshole," I blurt out.

"And why is that, Yusuke?" he smirks, "Is it because we all have to wear these outfits? Or the fact that I made you and Kurama wear eyeliner?" It's because I have to gouge my eyes out so I don't drool all over Kurama, stupid oblivious baby!

Okay, fine. This is what I'm wearing. Black pants, a long sleeved black tee, _eyeliner_ (Damn you, Botan!)…and…and…

Jewelry.

…This little infiltration bit better work, or I'm going to make Koenma need an x-ray to find that light-up binky of his.

After lots of arguing and mocking amongst ourselves, we catch sight of the club. There are two lines, and one seems to be the loser's club. It's not moving at all.

"I understand now," Kurama says, his green eyes focused on the entrance of the dark building, "It's this kind of place." What kind of place? A freakshow? How does he know what this kind of place is?

Does he have a kinky side? Ooh..

Nothing.

"Let's go," Hiei says, "We'll have to break up into groups."

"Oh, right!" Botan exclaims in her fake man voice, "Take these!" She reaches into the pocket of her trench coat and pulls out a bunch of tiny Spirit World devices, also known as really stupid clip-on earrings. Yay, mine is a silver hoop. I just _love _jewelry. She goes on to explain that they are communicators which are activated (and deactivated) by a single word. They can send and receive messages. She tells us that our code word is 'Genkai' for tonight. Lame. I can never escape the fossil.

Damn, I'm in such a pissy mood. No smokes in the past two days, no action in…forever, aside from my occasional dreams or excursions to the shower.

Kurama and I go ahead and the bouncer let's us in with no problem. Pulsating electronic music greets us immediately. We get lost in the crowd of weirdos, but still keep our eyes on the entrance. The other four make it in safely, and disperse into their…couples. After doing a quick scan of the place, it just looks like a remodeled warehouse with strobe lights and smoke machines. And lots of guys. Guys grinding into each other, guys making out, guys smoking…hey, let's stand next to those guys!

"Should we dance or something? I'm not really sure how…" Kurama interrupts me.

"No. Let's head for that far wall on the semi-raised platform," he suggests, his expression stern and serious, "The height will give us a slight advantage of about a foot, and we will only have three directions to be wary of, instead of four." For a second there I seriously thought that Kurama was going to give me a step-by-step tour of this S and M joint.

We head to said wall and Kurama immediately leans his back against it. I stand in front of him, my hand next to his head and propping me up, somewhat close, but not close enough. I get distracted by how open his coat is.

"_I've spotted one,_" Hiei's voice crackles in my ear, "_Goldie Locks with chains, near the back. He's on your right, Kurama._" Yeah, you would be staring at Kurama, wouldn't you, Hiei? Where are you? Maybe I can step in your line of vision.

"_Don't blow it, Yusuke,_" Koenma's voice nags me, "_From here it doesn't look like you two are very convincing. Why don't you go sit on the other side of the room? You'd be closer to him._" Go rent homoerotic porn, you sex starved toddler.

Fuck, have I mentioned what a pissy mood I'm in lately?

"I see him," Kurama murmurs, "And he may have already seen us. Hopefully he hasn't. Our spirit energy could give us away…" His hand is now drawing me nearer to him, and our hips are touching. That scent…the fragrance…it's..intoxicating. Soothing like a good smoke.

"I'll keep watch, just stay like this," he requests.

"R..right," I stutter. And _why_ am I stuttering?

Of course. I must be attracted to him. Damn it, why does life have to suck? Why do I have to realize this _now_? Though I guess there was that time I had that wet dream about him, but I thought that was just a normal thing. Ya know, to dream about your friends like that occasionally. Okay, okay, Yusuke. It was _more_ than once.

Telepathic doesn't mean mind reading, right?

"Yusuke, why are you trembling?" Huh?

"I'm not," I lie, "I'm just cold."

"I'm rather warm myself, are you sure that you aren't getting sick, or even _scared_?" As he rotates his head to face me, his hair brushes against the side of my face. It feels like silk.

"You _are_ wearing that heavy coat, you know," I remark, trying my hardest not to stumble with my words.

"Here," he says, pushing me gently aside and removing the coat, "It seems like the logical solution." Before I know it, he is placing it over my shoulders, and I'm standing here dumbfounded with my thumb up my ass. Come on Yusuke, put your damn arms in yourself!

"You really aren't feeling well," he notices, helping my arms into their proper places in the coat. He pulls me back in to our "disguising" position, which of course is now worsened because his taut chest is now fully exposed.

"Just lay here, I can take care of everything," the fox-demon tells me, pressing me right up against him. My arms are crushed between our chests, and my palms are resting face down on each of his pectorals. He gingerly takes the back of my head into his left hand and forces it to rest against his neck.

He really doesn't have to go out of his way to make me feel better. I'm not sick, and in fact, everything that he is doing is making things much worse. Fucking mission.

I can hear everything in his body working. I listen to him swallow hard; is he nervous? His breathing is steady, unlike mine. My head lifts with every breath. I have no idea how to get out of this situation. On one hand, it looks like we are acting our part. On the other, Kurama thinks I'm sick, and because my dumb ass didn't do anything to deny that, I can't exactly say that I'm not. I can't let him know that I happen to have a brand new crush on him.

"I can hear your heart beat," I let slip.

"I trust that everything's working correctly?" he retorts in a friendly tone. I notice that his arms are now embracing me fully, one hand on my upper back and one wrapped around my waist.

"Y..yeah," I reply. We stand there in silence for a while; Kurama is probably still watching the blonde. My hand brushes across his nipple accidentally. I gasp and quickly say, "Sorry, your shirt is slippery."

"It's..okay," he whispers into my hair.

"_Ah, help me!_" It's Kuwabara. Kurama and I both jolt our heads away from their previous positions, and start scanning the club for the guy.

"Genkai," I whisper, "Kuwabara, where are you?"

"_I'm up here!_" Kurama and I shoot our eyes toward the highest point in the club; a raised platform with a bar and lots of tables. The dweeb is leaning against a railing with a rather disgusted look on his face. He's trying to wave off a guy with spiky purple hair and like five piercings on his face alone. Hiei is sitting next to him on a stool, sipping at some sort drink.

"Hiei's your _boyfriend_," I mock over the communicator, "Why not get _him_ to fend off that guy for you?"

"_This is serious, you two!_" Botan scolds us, her voice still low and extremely hilarious. Why the heck does she have to yell at me?

"_Botan's right,_" Koenma cut in, "_Hiei, you have to cut the crap and step in. We don't need to cause problems. I'd rather not have someone as suspicious as Kuwabara kicked out with Blondie still in our sights._" Ohh…not me. Hiei. I say the code word again to deactivate the communicator.

We return back to our previous position, mostly because Kurama put us that way again. Damn it, Kurama, don't you have any idea what you are doing to me? Just don't press any closer to me, because you'll probably find out _real quick_.

"I think he's seen us," he whispers right into my ear, "He isn't approaching though. Just be ready, if you feel all right." The words start to travel down my neck and through my spine, causing me to flinch a bit. He seems to take this as a sign of my illness and lifts my chin to say, "I suppose you don't." His eyes are locked on mine; it's very intimidating.

"That's not it…" I utter, hoping that he doesn't see the desire in my eyes. It's bad enough that our faces are mere _inches_ apart. If I inhale too deeply I might smack into his nose.

"What is it, then?" he asks, his eyelids lowering a bit, leaving half circles of green to peer at.

What is it? I want to kiss you, that's what. I know you'll reject me, so I can't do it. It's painful. Everyone is watching, and I don't need to be teased for all eternity. That's why _you_ have to kiss _me_, Kurama. It won't seem so weird. I know how I feel, and that's why I can't do it, but I know that you won't. If anything, you would have preferred to be with Hiei right now. There's gotta be something going on there, right? But what if you think the same thing about me and Keiko…?

"It's nothing," I finally reply, trying to break our gaze and rest my head back in the curve of his neck. His hand still holds my chin though, and refuses to let me do just that. He's staring at me, no, into me. After a few more moments of staring, when I am about to press up and into his lips, he lets me go back into my earlier position. The one where I look like a needy schoolgirl (Though I am acting a lot like one, aren't I?).

His heartbeat is a lot faster now. Is it because of what just happened? Did he want _me_ to kiss _him_? No, he's too serious for that. He probably caught me lying, that's all. So why is his heart beating that fast? Is that blonde guy close?

I slowly raise my head again to see what direction his eyes are looking in. I expect to see him gazing off into the distance, but instead, he greets me and we lock each other's vision again. Is he nervous? Has he figured out how I feel?

No, he wants me as much as I want him.

His left hand starts gently thumbing over the short strands of hair on the back of my head. Without realizing it, _my_ left hand has made its way up to the side of Kurama's neck, and started gently stroking lines around the back of his ear. I don't care about this stupid case. I just want to get rid of this feeling so I can concentrate again. The music blares on. It's like the beats are counting the time that we've spent staring at each other.

"Get out of character, boys," Botan interrupts. That's strange…there was no static. Must be going deaf from the music.

Kurama's eyes shoot wide open and he drops me from his hold. He looks to my right and exclaims, "Botan?" Sure enough, the blue-haired…boy…is standing right there, looking worried.

"We've got _big_ problems. I was separated from Koenma, and then I lost my communicator!" She places an angry fist on her hip, then points up to the bar platform; "Plus, Hiei and Kuwabara are about to blow it! Blondie's disappeared from our sights, too."

"Genkai," Kurama whispers, "Koenma, we're with Botan. Is everything all right?" After no reply, Kurama looks to Botan and says, "Nothing."

"_Someone stop Hiei,_" Kuwabara pleads. Kurama is about to say something to Botan, but she interrupts.

"Let me guess, Kurama." She sticks a finger in the air, then imitates him; "This does not bode well."

His eyes set her on fire, not literally. In a high pitched tone of voice (like someone kicked him in the balls), he answers, "Bingo, Botan!" It was a pretty good impression. Gave me a giggle.

"_I'm with Blondie,_" Koenma finally speaks, "_I couldn't say anything because he was near me earlier. Some guy just came into the room that he took me into and informed him that 'some short guy' was causing trouble._"

"Baby's growing up too fast, eh Koenma?" I joke after reactivating the ridiculous earring.

"_Hush, Yusuke. He said he wanted to buy me a drink and then led me to a private room with four booths. I figured that you guys could find me before anything happened._"

"So where are you then." Duh. Hormones get to your head? You might not have enough time to tell us, Koenma.

"_There is a platform connected to the bar. I'm in the room with the windows that overlook the whole place._"

"I see him," Kurama says.

"Good eyes," I remark.

"What's going on?" Botan inquires. Oh, right, she hasn't heard a thing.

"We've located Koenma. He's been successful in making contact with our target," the red-haired beauty informs her. Red…haired...beauty. Whatever. Name one time that you haven't acted all soft and girly around Kurama, Yusuke. Come on… Damn it!

Without words, Botan and I follow Kurama toward the room. The crowd is pushy and dense, and I briefly get separated from them. What the hell, Yusuke? Where did your brain fly off to now? Who the hell just grabbed my wrist?

Oh, it's Kurama. He's got me in his right hand, and Botan in his left. We continue our journey through the crowd, and make it to the metal stairs that lead up to the bar platform. Before we know it, that guy that was hitting on Kuwabara is tumbling into us.

"Damn, watch where you stumble!" I yell at him as we pick ourselves up. The crowd around us has suddenly become silent; all we can hear is the pulsating beat of the strange music.

"Stumble? How about I was thrown down these stairs by some jealous freak?" the guy shouts back. The three of us look up the steps to see a very satisfied Hiei glaring back down. Before I can say anything to the case-blowing jerk, he's grabbed by a blonde flash and taken in to the room we were heading to.

"Outta my way!" I shout, pushing the pierced guy and several other drunks to the side. Botan and Kurama follow my lead and we burst into the room and see Koenma, Blondie, Hiei, and some other short twerp. Ruler boy sighs at the sight of us. Probably disappointed, as usual.

"That was easy," the short guy notes. His hair is black, like Hiei's, but much longer and pulled back into a low ponytail. His crimson eyes are disturbing and outlined in the same fashion that Kurama's is, possibly even the same color make-up. Weirdo. He is in black pants and a red sleeveless shirt. Standing next to Hiei, well, they look a lot alike, except Hiei is shorter by about two inches without the hair. Hah, they even have the same dog collar on. The difference seems to be their arms; this guy has that wacko tattoo, just like Blondie.

"I'm sorry that you have to see this, Chad," the blonde glances at Koenma apologetically, "It's just that, when you own a place like this, you have to get rid of the troublemakers." _Chad?_ I guess he figured that Koenma would be easy for them to figure out.

"Seems like we have a bit of a party going on in here, Arumaku," the shorty points out to his buddy, "How would you like me to take care of them?"

"Don't bother, Mairaku." Oh, well now they both have names. I was getting rather attached to Blondie and Shorty, myself.

"Hn," Hiei's long-lost twin brother huffs, "And why not?"

"That young one there, with the blue hair, he was _originally_ with Chad here." He casts his gaze over to Kurama and I. I notice that his eyes are two different colors; his right is blue and his left is green. He smirks, then states, "Those two have been checking me out since they got here. I want them to stay; guys like them know how to have fun." Oh…gross. Hiei seems to think so too; I swear that he just turned a shade of green. He looks like gothic Christmas.

"You may have the puppy, Mairaku."

"Joy," the weirdo says sarcastically.

"I don't think so," Hiei sneers as Mairaku tries to grab onto his wrist. In an instant, Hiei is twisting the other shrimp's wrist, restricting his movement. He grins wryly, and brags, "_That was easy_. We should kill these two now to get it done and over with."

"No, Hiei," Kurama interjects. I'm not sure when, but he seems to have lunged at Arumaku at the same time that Hiei reacted to Mairaku, and he has the blonde wrapped up in his rose whip. There's no blood.

"You're being too gentle, Kurama," Hiei argues, "I don't see his blood on those thorns of yours. Stop toying around."

"These two will know where the others are. This was our only lead, Hiei," Kurama reasons with him. Gee, don't they look like a married couple. I say that, but I'm jealous. Maybe I was wrong earlier. Maybe Kurama _was_ putting on an act.

"I'll tell you where they are," the blonde volunteers, "They are taking a young girl named Keiko to another plane of existence…" Keiko?! Why is this guy fucking with us? If he knew who we were, why does he call Koenma 'Chad'? What the hell…

Without so much as a visible movement, the two creeps are out of the demon's hold and standing next to each other on the far side of the room with devious smiles plastered on their ugly faces.

"Thank your two demon friends for so willingly giving up their names," Arumaku suggests.

"If you'd like to come, detective, be our guest," Mairaku offers, "We'll even open a portal for you."

"Whatever, you just better not hurt Keiko," I growl.

"Hn. Midnight tomorrow then," Mairaku declares, "Keiko dies if you aren't there by two. Don't worry, we won't hurt her until your time limit is up." Damn, how do the bad guys _always_ stay a step ahead of us?

And what the fuck is the danger with these guys again? I'm so fricken lost, and Keiko's already been involved because of it! _Stupid Spirit World!_

"Oh, and Chad…" the blonde twirls a piece of his own hair, "Again, I'm sorry that you had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Do you still want to have a drink with me?" Is this guy _serious_? Maybe they aren't as bright as his hair after all.

"Um, no thanks," 'Chad' replies, putting a hand up in the air snottily.

"Then you die." Mairaku leaps into the air and strikes at the place that Koenma was previously at. Surprisingly enough, Hiei saved him. It's like those two are already involved in a dick-measuring contest. They're both dicks, as far as I'm concerned. I just have to be allied with one of 'em.

"Hn. A demon working with the detective is bad as is, but saving a human that's not involved?" Shorty Number Two taunts Shorty Number One, "Fine. The embarrassment you've suffered here is enough for now. Let's go, Arumaku."

"Of course," the blonde playboy answers. He creates a swirling orb of purple around them and they vanish.

"Why don't we ever take those fuckers down when they are blabbering their mouths out?" I shout.

"Hush, Yusuke," Botan commands, "We are lucky that they didn't realize who 'Chad' was."

"She's right," the egotistical baby agrees, "We need to find Kuwabara so we can go back to our hotel." Yeah, poor guy is probably getting hit on by all those manly-men out there. Plus, I know I could use a little shut-eye.

Eer…wait. Hotel?

"You anticipated the need to stay in the city overnight…" Kurama thinks out loud.

Well, it should be better than my lame-ass apartment.

"What about Keiko?" Botan chimes in. Yeah, what _about_ Keiko?

"They've already got her, Botan," Hiei responds, "There's no use in going all the way back to Yusuke's city, unless we want to reveal a certain human mother or some idiot's sister to our enemy."

"Hiei has a point…" Kurama adds.

__

_Keiko_…

****

--------------

Leave a review and let me know what you think. This is my second _YYH_ fanfiction (my first being a Y-K one-shot called Strawberry Licorice).


	2. II: Bubbles and Tea

Alternate Universe

A _Yu Yu Hakusho_ fan-fiction

By Zelia Theb

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

The opinions expressed by the characters do not reflect the opinions of myself.

Warnings: Male-Male relationships, cursing, sexual situations, violence, tobacco, drug/alcohol use, and possibly other disturbing innuendo. **Rated R** for these reasons!

****

--------------

"Not as good as the one at the Dark tournament, but I can take it." Koenma's actually gone and done something right for once. We have a suite; a common room connected to three separate bedrooms, each with a king-size bed. Right now, everyone is lounging around, with the exception of Hiei, who has already taken a liking to the windowsill.

"The owner's a demon on probation," he says, still sucking on the clubbing pacifier.

"Oh yeah, mini-bar!" I shout enthusiastically. I run over to the pint-sized fridge and open it up. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. I sift through the basket of snacks and other nice things on top of a nearby table and find what I'm looking for; a pack of smokes. I light up faster than Hiei on speed. Ah, just what I need to forget about everything. Forget about the case, and forget about that encounter with Kurama.

"I'm gonna hit the sack, guys," Kuwabara announces.

"Wait, we have to divide up the rooms," Koenma intervenes. Great, I wonder how this is going to end up… Gee, could it be like the _last_ time he made us pick and choose partners?!

"This should be a no brainer!" Botan exclaims.

"You're right, Botan," bottle-breath agrees, "Because I'm assigning them." Everyone's jaw; including mine; gapes open. Assigned rooms? Come _on_, this is supposed to be a hotel!

"Hiei will stay with Kurama, Kuwabara stays with me, and Botan gets her own room." Yeah, and Yusuke…? Don't even think about it, diaper-boy! You better not…

"Yusuke, you get this couch." _AGH!_

"Hn. Why does Botan get her own room?" Hiei scowls. You'd think he'd be happy about getting Kurama all to himself…

"Because she's a girl, you moron!" Kuwabara shouts, raising a fist at the naïve demon.

"I don't need a room. I'll sleep right here," Hiei informs everyone.

"If you feel that way, Hiei, then Yusuke gets to stay with Kurama," Koenma remarks. Oh…I think I prefer the couch, now. I'd like to sleep instead of have to whack-off all night.

"Well, good night everybody!" Botan beams as she bounces off to the room in the middle. Everyone else, except Hiei of course, wishes each other the same thing and heads toward their rooms. I put out my smoke in an ashtray, leaving a short there for the next morning. Kurama and I take the room on the farthest end of the suite; farthest from Hiei that is. Hey, I'm just following the fox's lead.

I finally remove that coat from earlier and set it on a chair next to the huge bed. Damn, it sure is cold in here. I wonder where the climate control is…Ah, there. Near that window.

"Are you certain that you aren't ill, Yusuke?" What?

"I'm not sick, Kurama," I reply.

"You're shivering," he notices, "I'll draw you a hot bath and bring tea from the common room." Instead of stopping him, I stand there as he walks over to our personal bathroom and begins running the water. He comes back out and tells me to sit down, then goes out to the common room. Yusuke, you idiot. What are you thinking?

* * *

I wonder…does Yusuke like flavored or regular tea? He keeps denying his illness; so most likely he will refuse anything out of the ordinary. I should destroy any thought of brewing a remedial beverage.

"What are you up to?" Hiei asks from his perch.

"I'm making tea," I answer, "Am I disturbing you?"

"No," he says distantly. It's best that I don't continue. The relationship between Hiei and I has been awkward as of late. I know that he has always been intent on playing the role of outcast, but hardly ever with me. It was last week that he confirmed that.

By kissing me. I had always suspected he harbored such feelings, and every time the thought came to my mind, it killed me. Perhaps I led him on by the way I treated him, though I've always been endearing to those I care about; at least since I've become Shuichi. The reason it pained me so, was because I knew that I could never return the feelings if they ever came out.

It has nothing to do with his looks, his personality, his history, his race, or even the fact that I was stabbed by him once before. I simply _don't feel_ that way for him. Granted, if he were to ever leave, or even worse; perish, I would be crushed. To me, it is like a having a sibling. No, Hiei _is_ a brother to me.

"Tea? This late?" It is Botan, who seems to have emerged from her room. She really is quite the curious kitten.

"It is for Yusuke," I explain, "He hasn't been well since we started this case."

"That explains the running water noises…" she mentions. Oh, right! How could I be so absent-minded? I return to the room and close the door behind me to see that Yusuke is ready to light another cigarette. He's standing next to the radiator under the window.

"You shouldn't smoke, Yusuke," I express. He gives me an annoyed glare with his beautiful dark eyes, then puts the unlit atrocity down on the sill of the window. I smile, then stride over to the bathroom, where the bathtub has nearly overfilled itself. I quickly shut the water off, then place my fingertips into it. I'm relieved to discover that the temperature is just perfect.

I leave our room once again to retrieve the tea, which I hope hasn't cooled. It hasn't. I just hope that Yusuke is pleased by it. I'll do anything he asks of me tonight, even if he doesn't verbally make it clear. I know that he has been strained recently; the predicament of Keiko's capture probably does not help either. I just want him to know that I am here for him. I just wish…

I wish that he knew how I felt about him. Yet another reason why I feel so guilty with regards to Hiei. I pine for a human. I almost let myself slip tonight; and it caused problems. I lost sight of our target. Quite unprofessional and careless of me.

It is so silly. I am so old compared to the detective, but right now I am the same as he; a boy. Perhaps he added to the feeling of love that my mother Shiori had shown me. Without so much as a thought of himself, he always was ready to put his life on the line for my sake, and for others. Plus, I cannot dismiss beauty when it is always right there in front of me.

"Kurama? Having trouble finding a table?" I blink out of my thoughtful state, and set the tea down on the small reading table next to a chair.

"No…" I return, "I was just expecting to serve this to you in the bath." I feel my face flush immediately after saying so. I hope that my embarrassment isn't noticeable.

I glance over his body as he turns his head away from me. As exotic as this clothing was to wear, it certainly brings many subtle features into existence. I scrutinize my own clothing, staring down at my chest in particular, which is barely covered by the thin mesh. Perhaps I was mistaken earlier; it _is_ cold in here.

"There's nothin' to change into," he observes.

"There are cotton robes," I remind him. He doesn't seem pleased with that suggestion. I suppose I wouldn't be either, if I were him. No one wants to sleep in a robe, next to another _man_ no less, with the danger of it coming open overnight. Personally, I wouldn't _really_ mind, but I will have to save those fantasies for the day that he may return the affection.

"Man, this tub is _huge_!" I hear him declare from the other room.

"Quite," I concur upon entering the bathroom. His shirt has already been removed, and is in his right hand.

"Eww," he asserts, "What do regular clubbers wash their clothes with? Acid?" I take a strand of my own hair, and realize that he is correct. The club atmosphere truly has decided to take residence within our clothing and very being.

"Perhaps I will need a bath after you," I state. I turn to give him privacy, but he stops me with a pensive murmur.

"It's pretty late, and the tub is pretty big. We could take a bath together," he suggests, "Just like a public bath house…" After my poor display with him earlier, I am not certain that a bath together is the answer. However, he does make a good argument. Would it disappoint him if I turned him down? Or would he realize my embarrassment and be insulted by it?

"You're right, it is rather late," I answer, removing my own minimal clothing. As we shower, I face my back to him. My excitement would be no doubt be conspicuous. I'd prefer for something so shameful to occur under the blur of water and bubbles. Yes, I did prepare a bubble bath…I hope that token of affection isn't apparent either.

In the bath, he doesn't look me in the eye. He is better off. I am having an arduous time myself, fighting the slippery porcelain of the bathtub. Our thighs are mere inches from contact. The bath isn't quite as big as we had previously believed, though someone of my intelligence should have been able to figure that out. Maybe my enamoured subconscious was acting in place of my brain.

His face is pink. Is it from the heat of the water, or from his ailment? I reach over and place the back of my palm against his forehead, which is covered by strands of hair that have fallen. He is rather warm, though checking for a fever in a very hot bathtub is never a good indicator.

"Are you feeling all right?" I ask.

Yusuke faces me, quirking an eyebrow, and says, "Stop asking. I'm fine."

I feel the skin of shoulder, which has been submerged under the water. I then feel his forehead again, and surely enough, his head is warmer than it should be. I look at him seriously, then state, "You are not. You are running a bit of a fever."

"That's not it, Kurama…" he trails off, facing back down at the bubbles.

"Is it Keiko?" I inquire, not really wanting to hear the answer, even though I already know it.

"Well, she's part of it…" Just part of it? I wonder what else is on his mind? Yusuke's life outside of detective cases may not be as carefree as he lets on. I suppose that his bad-boy image must earn him a lot of cold stares. If only he knew, that to me, every part of him was desirable. Of course, Keiko already feels that way, and has known him far longer than I have.

Of course…what _was_ that in the club? I was so lost in my own thoughts that now I can hardly remember what Yusuke was doing…but didn't he…

"Earth…to…." A large amount of water and bubbles flew into my face suddenly; "Kurama!"

"Did you just splash me?" I chuckle. I wipe some of the bubbles off the tip of my nose, as they were disturbing my vision.

"You spaced out!" he argues playfully. Just like him, to do something so absurd just to bring a smile to someone's face.

However, no one splashes me in the face and gets away with it.

I splash back, landing a mound of bubbles on top of his hair. He narrows his eyes at me, and sends suds flying at me once more. I squint my eyes and react with another childish splish of water. What a sight we must be; two naked boys splashing in bubbles in the middle of the night.

"Hey!" he shouts as the water hits his face, "You got some in my eye!" He begins to rub at it, but I stop him. It would only make it worse if the soap spread.

"Don't," I command, "Let me take a look at it." Yusuke obliges my request, and I thumb some tiny bubbles out of his eyelashes. The white of his eye is barely pink. I stare at him, and say, "It's fine."

Damn! I slip forward, not only causing our hips to touch, but sending Yusuke's head back toward the ceramic tiling. Instead of worrying about how it will look, I quickly reach for the back of his head so that my hand will act as a cushion.

"Sorry, Yusuke," I apologize, "It's a tad slippery. Are you all right?"

"You're starting to sound like a broken record," he notes as we pick ourselves back up, our thighs still touching, "Yeah, I'm fine." I rub the back of his neck in case the impact may have caused any sort of pain, but am unable to remove it. My will power has left me.

I really am daft. It's quite obvious to me now. It's really not good that I couldn't have realized it _before_ I had put myself in such a compromising position. He wants me to kiss him; it's clear by the look in his eyes. Who am I to deny Yusuke what he wants?

The door flies open before I can fulfill his unspoken request. Love has truly made me lose awareness, I suppose that is why they say it's so dangerous.

"Is everything okay in h…ere…." Botan says, her look changing from that of worry to utter shock. She of course is in a pair of pink pajamas. It is certainly an advantage to be able to change clothing on a whim.

"B..Botan!" Yusuke stutters, "Don't you damn people know not to barge into bathrooms?"

"Well I tried knocking, but no one answered!" she shouts back at the boy. Thinking of the others, especially Hiei, I place my forefinger over my lips, signaling for the two of them to keep quiet. After gasping out of realization from her volume, she says, "I saw the light on, but I didn't see Kurama, and I knew you weren't feeling well, and that you were taking a bath, and I thought that maybe you fell asleep and drowned, or something like that…"

"Ramble much?" the dark-haired boy next to me asks her, "Though I guess you probably just wanted a peek at the hottest Spirit Detective that Spirit World ever had…"

"Oh, shut up, Yusuke!" she orders him. I motion for them to keep their volume down.

"We were just taking a bath," I assure her.

"Then why are there bubbles in your hair?" she asks accusingly. She really is quite the interrogator.

"I felt like splashing Kurama," Yusuke shrugs, "Is it such a big deal?"

"No, it isn't," the apparition says, "Forgive me for worrying. Good night." She silently shut the door behind her as she left us alone. Thank goodness…

"Uh, Kurama?" I look over at the voice's owner, not expecting him to suddenly pull me by my neck, touching our noses. My heart is beginning to race; it's such an odd feeling. It's different, now that I know with one hundred percent certainty that he does want me in return.

"Yes, Yusuke?" I murmur onto his lips.

"I asked you to do something…" he whispers. He is right…he did request something of me.

I crush our lips together. The sensation is mesmerizing, placing me into a trance and telling me to shut down all thought processes. The ecstasy causes me to press in with my tongue and devour him. It becomes more ferocious with every penetration of his mouth. It must be tough for anyone else but me to imagine what it is like to not have had physical affection so strong in all my years of being. Even minor instances were nothing compared to the feelings I have right now, not to mention the amount of time it has been since I have had anything such as this, aside from the peck that Hiei had placed on me last week,

The human need for air is far different than a demon's. I push myself a bit further, and have to break away for some much needed oxygen. We nuzzle our noses together, which gives me the alternate idea of working down his neck. I hope that Botan doesn't mistake _these_ splashing noises for trouble.

He moans as I lick his ear lobe. Before I nip at it again, I whisper, "You like that, don't you…" He moans again in response.

We continue, or rather, I continue. My hands begin to wander down his chest, but he starts to ease away from me. He murmurs, "Kurama…stop." I go on, but again, he pleads, "Stop…Kurama…" I smirk and start working at his ear once more, but suddenly he thrashes away and shoves both of his hands down into the water, his shoulders now slumped forward.

Oh…my… His face is contorted and he attempts to slow his breathing.

I grin at him evilly. _I am so naughty._

"Crisis averted?" I tease as he breathes a sigh of relief. He shoots a daring glare my way and nods. I giggle, "I suppose I know where _your_ spot is, now."

"I know where my cigarette is, too," he retorts, propping himself up to get out of the tub, "I'm gonna go have a smoke." I follow suit, and watch him put on one of the two robes hanging on the back of the door. Before we tie up, I steal a glimpse at him.

"Well isn't this interesting," he catches me, "I guess we'll never know who the girl is." I smirk and blush at the same time. Who'd have thought that someone would be the same size as me? It should make for some rather interesting encounters…after the mission of course.

I lay down under the covers of the bed after draining the bath, while Yusuke opens the window and smokes. Both of us are smiling; it's nice to have finally gotten that out our systems.

He joins me, both of us in our robes (most likely in fear that Botan may intrude again), and rests his head on my chest. I wish I knew if he was tired…I am not calmed down from our excursion in the water.

"Told ya I wasn't sick," he remarks.

"What do we do now?" I question, tracing the lines of muscle on his arm.

"Botan probably knows, and even though she's a blabbermouth, she won't say anything."

"You're right, it's best we kept this a secret, for now."

"Especially from Keiko and Hiei."

"Why especially Hiei?" I ask. _I_ know why, but what makes him think such?

"He has the hots for you. I was surprised that he passed up the chance to sleep with you tonight…" He trails off, realizing the order of his words.

"It's strange about Hiei," I begin, "He exiles himself from everyone, but his eyes are always so easy to interpret."

"It's three," he says, nodding his head in the direction of the digital clock on the nightstand.

"Shall we get some rest?"

"Yeah."

****

--------------

__

[Author's Note]

Next chapter - Anduromida's plot is revealed, along with some other things…

Thanks to everyone who's reviewed and added me to their favorites list! It's a great inspiration.

For those of you who like my writing already, I am sitting on this brilliant idea for a Hiei-Kurama one-shot that I came up with in the middle of playing Super Smash Bros. Melee while listening to Metallica. Go figure =). Keep an eye or two or three out for it!

Speaking of which, _this_ fic burst into my head while listening to Metallica's version of Astronomy, followed up by Joe Satriani's Is There Love in Space?, Bamboo, The Souls of Distortion, and Gnaahh. Strange, aren't I?

-Zelia Theb


	3. III: Transdimensional

Alternate Universe

A _Yu Yu Hakusho_ fan-fiction

By Zelia Theb

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi. 1984 is a novel written by George Orwell.

The opinions expressed by the characters do not reflect the opinions of myself.

Warnings: Male-Male relationships, cursing, sexual situations, violence, tobacco, drug/alcohol use, and possibly other disturbing innuendo. **Rated R** for these reasons!

****

--------------

Today was horrible. Abso-friggin-lutely horrible. Sure, right _now_ everyone has shut their faces, but that's because we have to be quiet if we intend on getting to the roof of this stupid club without problems.

First off, when I woke up, Kurama was _gone_. I found out later that he went with Botan to buy new clothes. You know, I'd really like to know where Koenma comes up with this magical money. You'd think that he could have paid me once for all the crap I do for him.

Yeah, so _then_, Kurama is avoiding me _all_ day, and Botan looks at me, holding in her stupid giggles, like she knows everything. Kuwabara was being plain annoying, and Koenma insisted on taking us out for foreign food. It wouldn't have been so bad, if it was something normal, like pizza, spaghetti, or a hamburger. But _noOOoo…_ It had to be some weird place that had this nasty menu.

So then, Kurama is trying to get Hiei to eat something the whole time, and then _they_ get into this wicked argument about the whole thing. Well, more like Hiei was blasting away at Kurama left and right. Damn! Not only that, but one of these assholes stole my cigarettes!

"Is everyone ready?" Koenma suddenly asks. Damn, I need to pay attention more often. Seems like we've made it to the roof of the place. There's a weird swirling purple doorway. Hmm, wonder what that is?

"Where the heck is it gonna take us?" Kuwabara scratches his head. His hair is back to normal, except for the red streaks. It looks like a tiger coughed up a hairball on his head.

"Let's just go and get this over with," Hiei states, walking casually into the portal.

"And he says I'm the stupid one," carrot-head mumbles as he trails behind the pre-menstrual demon. Two of a kind, jeez.

I shrug at the remaining three, having given up on forming any sort of plan for the other side. We all walk in, Kurama first, and myself last. I guess he really must be trying to get away from me.

It's night on the other side. What's really freaky is that it looks like we've switched cities, and are on top of _my_ apartment building. Even freakier is who's greeting us and what they're wearing.

Mairaku is standing there, along with some other freak that we haven't been introduced to yet. I'll call him Albino. Keiko isn't around. What they're wearing? Damn fashion freaks.

Hiei's other half still looks the same. Hair's pulled back, eyeliner is loaded on, and he's insisting on the leather dog collar. The weirdest thing? The shorties must shop at the same store, only that white puffy scarf thingy is red. Shit…

This is so fucked up.

Albino is…an albino. His features are more feminine than Kurama's and Botan's put together. Short silver spikes of hair shoot from all directions of his head, and his white eyes are softly outlined in thick strokes of blue. Damn, Yusuke, go try out for a make-up infomercial. He's got on a demon dress too, without the puffy thing. His is midnight blue.

Rewind. This is really fucked up.

"Get her, Arufuiiratsu," Mairaku says as we all study their movements. Wait, what the hell did he say?

"Huh? What's yer name?" Kuwabara asks the seemingly shy bad guy.

"Alpheratz…" he answers in a voice that rivals Kurama's, not bothering to look up. I guess I was right, the dude is a bit shy.

"Wha??" Kuwabara says. The two go back and forth, as everyone else but Mairaku and Hiei try and decipher the words.

Enraged and annoyed, Mairaku suddenly yells, "_A-Ru-Fu-Ii-Ra-Tsu!_ You stupid lump!" Ooooh….

"I getcha! Alpheratz!" said lump exclaims.

"Just give us Keiko already!" Hiei yells at his twin. Yeah!

"Keiko, dear, you can come out now," Alpheratz meekly says to the door leading to the lower floors of the building.

* * *

After deciphering the new character's name, Keiko is released from captivity. She walks slowly out of the door and bows to Alpheratz in thanks. In her hands is a pile of clothing, most likely the same style as our enemy. She scurries over to us, appearing relatively unharmed, and Botan offers to take the pile of clothing off her hands. Now that I can clearly see her body, I see that she is wearing a long tan duster. Quite a strange pattern here, I just hope that Keiko hasn't been turned on us.

"Are you hurt?" Yusuke asks her. She nods, shaking her brown hair up and down.

"That was simple," Hiei points out. Yes, it was rather simple, wasn't it…? Come to think of it, Koenma never told us the danger of this 'Anduromida' group. Personally, I just assumed that the danger was too great and far too deep to explain, and that he was withholding it for a purpose. However, now it seems as if we played right into their hands. We have no idea of how to inter-dimensionally travel back to our own plane. Quite frankly, we're trapped here.

Mairaku and Alpheratz stand there. I can sense their spirits; Mairaku's power could equal that of Hiei's, however, Alpheratz is much weaker. Not only does his personality and spirit give this away, but the way in which he seems to cower behind Mairaku. Something is…different about them.

"They're human," Kuwabara states, "I can feel it."

"They're demon, fool," Hiei corrects him with a glare, "Haven't you learned by now not to judge a bad guy by the way he looks?"

"Hey, shut up!" Kuwabara retorts, "I said I can _feel_ it!"

"You are both correct. They are neither, yet both," I interrupt. Mairaku glowers at me as I say this. But still, they make no move.

Hiei claims that I often study my opponents too much, when things could be ended so quickly. Perhaps he is correct; but this situation calls for such attention to detail.

Kieko hands me a sleek light gray duster. She has handed everyone but Hiei a long covering of some sort. Yusuke's is black, Kuwabara's is white, and Botan has a dark brown. It seems as if those garments she held were gifts for us, though I am uncertain as to why she is unphased by her capture.

"What's the deal, Keiko? I didn't know that prisoners were allowed to shop," Yusuke asserts, possibly curious about the strange situation, "I figured they would have at least had you tied to a chair, or something."

"Prisoner?" Keiko asks, bewildered by the statement. Is it possible that she was tricked?

"You talked to me yesterday and said that Koenma would be sending new partners for you," the brunette explains to us, "We all were going to be brought to this new world so that we couldn't be involved with your next case."

"_WHAT?!_" Yusuke shouts out of frustration, "I didn't even _see_ you yesterday! What the hell are you talking about?"

"Alternate planes, Yusuke…" Koenma states, "Which means alternate selves. She was tricked, but at least she wasn't harmed."

"So this world's Yusuke is a traitor? Wow, I sure don't hope that guy didn't train with Genkai…" Kuwabara interjects.

"That does not explain the gifts, Keiko," I say politely.

"Well, it's the law here," she says meekly, "No one is allowed to be seen outdoors without some sort of long covering."

"Well that's stupid," Yusuke huffs. He glances my way, but I turn my head to face our opponents. Their objective still isn't clear to me; aside from the fact that we're trapped. However, Koenma entered the portal _willingly_. It is unlike him. He must know a way back; otherwise he would have gone back to Spirit World.

Of course! But why wasn't it so obvious earlier? Alternate selves… What could upset a world so much that it would become so different, yet so similar?

"_Hiei_," I say telepathically to my friend, "_You must understand it now, correct_?" I hope that he answers; he and I have not been getting along today.

"_What's there to understand, Kurama?_" he answers, "_This ruse was obviously a well-thought out plot to waste our time and to get us away from Yusuke's city long enough to pull something off._"

"_It's more than that, Hiei,_" I reply, "_Koenma has no intentions of taking us back_." I look over at him, and his crimson eyes grow wide when he realizes what I've said. I should have expected this…

He's run up behind Koenma, and taken him hostage, pulling him roughly away from the entire group, and threatening to slit his throat with his katana. Keiko is not the greatest actress either. She let out a small gasp, not at the fact that Hiei _appears_ to have doublecrossed us, but because she realizes that she has little time to escape.

"Hiei! What the hell are you doing?" Yusuke yells. He's ready to attack our short ally, along with Kuwabara, but I stop him.

"We've been tricked," I announce, "That is _not_ Koenma, and that girl is _not_ Keiko!"

"That's impossible!" Botan cries out, "Their energy is the same! Koenma even contacted us from Spirit World! I don't understand this at all!"

"Yes, now unhand me, Hiei!" the false Koenma pleads.

As if by fate, a beeping sound is heard emanating from Botan. Her eyes open wide and she pulls out her compact communicator.

"Koenma!"

"_Botan! Where've you been? I need you to contact Yusuke at once! We--_" I snatch the communicator out of her hand quickly, beating Mairaku to it. He was ready to destroy it; and the _real_ Koenma may be our last hope of escaping this world.

"This is seriously fu…!" Yusuke is stopped short by Alpheratz, who's just sent a small energy blast his way. It was merely a distraction for him to escape with Keiko and Koenma, leaving Mairaku for us to deal with.

Yusuke stands up unharmed, just startled. He clenches a fist at the raven-haired enemy, and declares, "Now before we kick your _ass_, tell us what the hell is going on here!"

"Since you won't be able to lay a _finger_ on me…no!" After the childish statement, Mairaku disappears in a red orb of energy and escapes briskly.

"Can anyone tell me why we didn't kick their puny butts right then?" Kuwabara inquires.

"The situation was rather vexing, and no one was certain of how to react," I offer. I toss the compact back to Botan, who then flips it open to connect with Koenma. Everyone gathers around the apparition. It's strange. I want to distance myself from Yusuke, and Hiei wants to stay away from me. Both of them have that same hurt look in their eyes.

__

"Botan! Thank goodness! Where ARE all of you?!"

"We're stuck in an alternate universe, sir! It was entrapment! We have no idea how to get out of this place!" Botan certainly is a worrisome girl. I am delighted that these communicators _are_ able to transcend the planes at the least.

__

_"It's Anduromida, isn't it?"_ Koenma asks. Well, at least he's up to speed. He continues, _"If it's safe and I can have everyone's silence for a moment, I'll brief you."_ Everyone nods. I for one, wouldn't mind some clarification on this whole matter. While it would be rather interesting to see if Shuichi and Shiori existed in this world, I would prefer to be back home.

__

_"First off, I want to say what their exact threat is. As you already know, the group possesses the power to travel to alternate dimensions, or to be more exact, only one alternate dimension. That's the one that you four are trapped in now."_ At least that eliminates most of my worries. Not only will we not have to wonder if they fled to an entirely different plane altogether, but we know that we will most likely return to our own dimension, instead of a completely new one.

__

"Their plan is to cause a worldwide war in THAT world. That world is run by very strict laws, similar to those seen in the book '1984', which I assume that only Kurama has read…"

"Huh? What's that about?" Kuwabara and Yusuke ask together.

"It's a classic novel, originally written in English, by George Orwell," I explain on behalf of Koenma, "Essentially, it was Orwell's vision of what life would be like in the year nineteen eighty four. The government was able to manipulate the people so much that they controlled what they ate, what they thought, even when they were allowed to have relations. They could change the story of a war from one week to the next, and no one questioned it. Those who did were vaporized, and not spoken of. The language of the people was constantly reduced so that it would eliminate words that had different meanings, so as not to produce a phenomenon labeled 'double think'. A rather interesting read, though I believe I may have missed many details."

__

"Kurama got the basics. That's what THAT world is like."

"So why not pull a Sakyo and try to build a tunnel to Demon World?" Yusuke asks. A rather intelligent question; though there must be a good reason as to why not. That same reason would also provide some information on the world itself.

__

"I hate to say it, but in that world, there already IS a tunnel to Demon World. It's not large enough to let B Class or higher demons through. Here's the kicker, though, Yusuke. King ENMA was the one who constructed it, to assist the human government. Demons who pass through the tunnel are only allowed to be the silent soldiers of the government. Not many decide to take passage, as they would not like to be a part of a world like that, or a world of humans no less."

"My alternate self is rebelling against his father. King Enma placed his son directly in the right hand seat of the highest government official. That Koenma is also the head of all tunnel affairs."

"I'll say what I've been sayin' in my head this whole time," Yusuke remarks, "This is really fucked up!"

"I don't understand, Koenma," Hiei steps in, "Why not let them ruin this pathetic and boring little world. It would do it some justice. I know that if I get stuck here, I will personally start world destruction myself. I already know that there is no opponent powerful enough to beat me."

"Yeah, goes from being run by a bunch of stuck-up pansies to being run by a short three eyed freak. Yeah, that sounds ideal," Kuwabara mutters. Hiei jabs him in hip with his elbow, causing our tall friend to yelp.

__

"Koenma doesn't have the power to make the tunnel larger. In fact, he wasn't aware of a way to allow the vicious demons through to that Human World, until he was approached by Anduromida. He decided to help them in secret. They are building a temple in our world which will act as a portal to their world, and plan on rallying up demons, humans, and basically anything that could be a catalyst for war. The other function that temple will provide is the ability to ritual summon high-class demons from our Demon World. You can see why this is a danger to us as well. It's not as fatal as a tunnel, as the demon is chosen by the ritual. We just can't have a place out there like that, in the event that one goes wrong and some S Class demon crushes a city in a single stride."

Finally, a bit of clarity on the subject. It certainly is a different world. I wonder if my alternate self was able to transpose himself to this world. It would be intriguing to see if we could use the knowledge of ourselves as a catalyst for any of our plans.

"Well then, how do we get out of here? There's gotta be a way out that you know of, since you seem to know everything about these guys. Wait, how the hell do you know all of this if you're sittin' there sucking on a pacifier in a different dimension?" Yusuke snatched the compact from Botan and stared too closely into it, however, Botan slapped him in the face and swiped it back. If only I could make that small red mark feel better…but not now.

__

"Well, for one, that's top secret information, but I can say that I received all that information from an informant who spied on the group while they were in OUR world. So no, I don't have a way out for you four. However…there are two options. You can wait for Anduromida to complete their plan, and hopefully escape back home alive; of course you'd have to deal with the aftermath back home…OR you can find the source of their power, and return home yourselves."

"Get back to the point, Koenma," Hiei prodded the toddler.

__

_"Right. Each of them carries a pendant, which when combined, can create the portal. So that's your ticket back. We can try and coerce any of the four on our side to return to you, but it'll be a tough task. It is certain that the closer to achieving their plan, the more likely they are to be in that world."_ No one speaks, even though it is clear that we all have to hope luck is on our side for this one.

__

_"Everyone clear? I'll give Botan information as I find it._" With that, Koenma ends the transmission and Botan shuts the device.

"Great, so where the hell do we go?" Yusuke questions the sky. I pick up my garment from the evil Keiko and put it over my arms. It was the only gesture that would prove useful.

"You put on your law-abiding disguises and we find somewhere to stay," Hiei returns, his voice still as condescending as ever.

"What about Genkai's temple?" our tallest comrade suggests.

"That may have been the most intelligent thing that has ever left that mouth of yours," Hiei remarks. Kuwabara should be thankful; it was a compliment, even if it was a tad backhanded.

****

--------------

__

[Author's Note]

Yes, there are many questions left out in the open. Don't worry, all of them will be covered.

Chapter 4 will introduce a new POV; Hiei. Aside from a piece of key enemy interaction, it will mostly focus on Hiei. There is also a hilarious little bit about how the gang acquires their first meal.

As always, feel free to e-mail me with anything pertaining to this story (just make sure that Fanfiction is in the subject). Just check my bio. Not to mention, another shameless plug for my Y-K one-shot Strawberry Licorice!

Thanks for reading and reviewing!

-Zelia Theb


	4. IV: I Now Pronounce You::

Alternate Universe

A _Yu Yu Hakusho_ fan-fiction

By Zelia Theb

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

The opinions expressed by the characters do not reflect the opinions of myself.

Warnings: Male-Male relationships, cursing, sexual situations, violence, tobacco, drug/alcohol use, and possibly other disturbing innuendo. **Rated R** for these reasons!

****

--------------

Genkai's place was completely deserted. Even better. Kurama stumbled upon a journal which indicated that we would be free from this world's pathetic government, and free from her. Seems like the old hag wasn't able to pass down her techniques to anyone _here_. One less person to stand in _my_ way.

At least I won't have to stay anywhere near this group. They all have their own separate rooms, and there's no need to worry about anyone intruding on our sleep. It'll be entertaining to watch them find food before Kurama wakes up. Stupid humans.

Especially Kuwabara, but _especially_ Yusuke. He should be on his knees and thanking me for not slaying him as soon as we stepped foot into this dimension. He's been annoying Kurama since yesterday. I saw the way he touched him in that horrid nightclub. Thankfully _I_ am aware of Kurama's feelings toward the detective. He won't even look at him after that wretched display.

I find myself in the fox's room now. He has grown two plants that act as candles, and is preparing a futon for himself. My allies are lucky to have found such a well-equipped dwelling.

"I was not expecting you to come here, Hiei," he says, his red-hair glowing a strange orange from the stale light.

"Hn." How absurd. He _knows_ that I make it a habit to get what I want. It's bad enough that Koenma denies me my freedom, despite the fact that I torture myself every day in the chains of Yusuke's city.

I hear footsteps coming from afar. They belong to the arrogant detective. Perhaps he will learn his place if I allow him to walk in to an unexpected sight.

With blinding speed I am standing right in front of my target. I seize his human wrists roughly, then pull Kurama down eye to eye.

"No, Hiei." No?

"Why not, Kurama?" The footsteps have stopped and turned in a different direction. He's better off.

The fox breaks free of my hold, but says nothing. Damn you, Kurama. I need a reason. My desire for you is comparable to my desire to see Demon World again…yet you deny me just as Koenma does.

"I have_ needs_, Kurama. You can't lead me around on a leash and not expect that this wouldn't come up sooner or later," I sneer at him, trying with all my might to read those emerald orbs of his. They tease me, shielding his true thoughts.

"I _haven't_ led you on, Hiei!" he utters in a low tone of voice. How can he speak to me as if I was an enemy? He truly is ruthless.

"Forget it. I would be able to move on if I had some sort of closure, but apparently you're not even good enough for that. Good night, Kurama."

* * *

"Who's there?" I demand, leaping down from my perch in the tree. I stare across the moonlit clearing and watch as the silhouette of Mairaku appears from the bamboo forest. I should have known that they would have followed us. If they knew about our lives in the other world then they would know to come to Genkai's compound in _this_ one.

I draw my sword, impatiently awaiting my opponent's first move. He steps forward a few more steps, then stops when the light of the ashen moon has fully illuminated his figure.

"I'm not here to fight you or your comrades, Hiei," he declares.

"You certainly didn't come here to prance in the meadows," I scathingly point out. If his motive for being here is to talk then perhaps I should cut off that mouth of his.

"I came here to apologize."

I blink. Apologize? Those sorts of things mean nothing to me. There is nothing that he could have done to hurt me enough to warrant an apology.

"You've already forgotten. I can see by that look in your eyes, which are so strikingly similar to my own…" he says, "I wanted to say that I am sorry for insulting you. You must know now that I am half-demon and half-human. Such an affront to you was improper and hypocritical." He feels regret over that pitiful comment made last night?

"If you are trying to earn my trust and turn me against the detective, you're wasting your time," I inform him. My sword is lowered now, but I am ready to attack in an instant.

"I don't intend on turning you against anyone. If I'm not mistaken, your only true ally is yourself." Tch. So he thinks that he knows everything about me.

"I want to see the Demon World, Hiei. I was born here, but my entire life has been spent as an outcast, avoiding the government, and searching for a way to my real home."

"So? What makes you think that I care?" I glower at him.

He takes another non-threatening step forward, allowing me to see the sincerity in his eyes. This half-breed must be insane for trusting me so easily. His hair sways and shimmers a deep blue as he continues to walk forward. Now we are seeing eye to eye, being a mere foot apart.

"I have found that way home. I am offering you the opportunity to leave."

I shift an eyebrow up inquisitively and affirm, "I don't want live in _your_ world."

"There is something you must understand about the power of Anduromida, Hiei…" Oh wonderful, a long speech. How utterly tiresome.

"We can only open a portal to another dimension, but that only leads us to the same type of world we opened the portal in. To put it clearly, if we open up the portal in Human World, we land in Human World. You could go back to your Demon World." Now _this_ piques my interests…

"There's just one outstanding flaw in your proposal," I smirk, "All four pendants have to be together in order to create that portal. I highly doubt that your group intends on letting me get my hands on them, or that you want me to kill you to obtain yours."

"That is a predicament, isn't it?" Mairaku shrugs, "Next time we meet, the answer will become much clearer." He quickly disappears into the forest, not afraid to turn his back to my sword. His intentions are not clear to me.

There are many angles that he could be going for. He may be using me as a pawn to leave the detective in this forsaken world, or as a way to ensure his own escape from Anduromida. Either way, I don't care.

* * *

"Don't you think that we should talk about this first?" I ask Kurama. First he doesn't talk to me all day, then he creeps into my room, goes under my covers, and wakes me up by…

Damn, where's the romance? You'd think a guy who uses a flower (A rose no less!) would be more of a gentleman.

"What's there to talk about?" he asks, raising himself from off of my chest. Whew, I can breath again. I push him up a bit more so that I can sit up myself.

"How about stuff like, 'Oh, I've liked you since…', or 'I'm just lookin' for some action' or…"

"Oh, I apologize Yusuke," he interrupts, "You're right, I did get a bit too carried away." He brushes his hair out of his face and looks at me apologetically.

"A bit? Instead of nudging me awake you decided to shove your tongue in my ear!" Yes, I _am_ complaining. Women will never understand, but guys _don't_ always think about sex all the time. In fact, I'm regretting the fact that I even made out with Kurama naked in a bathtub! So what, maybe at _that_ instant my masculine hormones decided to take over, but at least I feel guilty about it.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke." Kurama leans in close to me, and takes my hand into his own. Much better. I'm such a fricken girl…

"So what's your deal? I know what mine is…"

"I could go by your model," he begins, stroking my hand in the process, "I've 'liked' you for quite some time. In fact, I was taken by your looks alone, that first time we met on the street." He moves his hand out of mine and places it on the side of my face; "To answer the other half, my brash action was a result of my pent up frustration, released because I knew it was safe to admit my feelings to you." I'm kissed by him quickly, and my face returns to his hand. It's…weird. He almost seems upset.

"Eer…Kurama…I'm not sure what to say to that," I stammer like an idiot, "I mean, I've had fantasies here and there but I guess it wasn't for as long as you've liked me." Stupid, stupid!

"It doesn't matter, I just wanted you to know." He gives me a hug, which _of course_ I return, then whispers, "Does it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?"

"That I'm not actually a human…" What a dumb question. He laughs; "Judging by that smile on your face I take it that was a silly question."

"So what do we do?" I mean, if we're stuck here forever, eventually we're gonna have to tell _someone_ that we're together. That is, if he wants to stay together.

"Well, for as much as I'd love to take you right now…" He stops, probably seeing the incredibly terrified look on my face. Does he mean…?! He grins wryly then goes on; "It's probably best that we take caution with this. It is important that we make it home safely, and…"

"Make sure that Hiei doesn't find out," I finish. Well, it wasn't _that_ hard to hear what he was yelling about earlier.

"That was you in the hall, wasn't it." I nod and he gives me a reassuring kiss on my face. He stands and heads for the sliding door, and I follow him out into the hall.

"Where're ya goin'?" I question, tugging at his wrist for him to turn around. At least say bye, or good night, or something!

"I'm going to bed," he replies. Well duh!

"Oh…I see," he smiles, placing his hands at my sides and pulling me in, "I didn't give a proper good night!"

"Damn straight ya didn't," I pout, trying to trick him into kissing me again. As I found out last night, he's a great kisser, and I won't mind trying to coerce him into giving me one whenever I want.

As our lips are locked, and our hands are tightly clutching each other in the dark wooden hallway, the sound of a sliding door a few feet away and a gruff sounding 'AHH!' gives us our cue to breathe. So much for keeping things _quiet_.

"AHH!" Kuwabara shouts again, "What are you doing?!"

"Oh, there's that eyelash, Kurama!" I try and cover up.

"Oh, thanks Yusuke," he plays along, "It was really bothering my eye!" Well, someone as dumb as my tall classmate there might have bought that whole act if Kurama had _let go of me_! Not that I'm complaining…but…

The door to Botan's room slides open, and there she is, in a miraculous pair of pink pajamas, holding a plank of wood like a baseball bat. She looks at Kuwabara quickly, then says, "Where are they? Lemme at them!" She swings her blue hair our way and drops the board on the floor.

"I knew it!" she yells, pointing a finger at Kurama and I. Oh come on, seeing as she interrupts two out of three times Kurama and I even get a chance to be alone, I thought that it would have been obvious to her.

"Shut up Botan!" I shout, thinking of Hiei. Maybe I shouldn't have shouted.

"Well what are you going to tell Keiko back at home?" she asks, concerned as usual. Eer…I have to tell her?

"Dang, Urameshi. Does this mean you're like gay or something? I'm totally not taking a shower with you in gym class anymore…" Kurama frowns when Kuwabara says this.

"I'm not…It's like this…I…uh…" Wow, Yusuke! First prize in the public speaking category!

"Kuwabara, I don't believe that you're being very fair to…" Yeah, whatever Kurama's saying.

"AIYEE!" Botan screams at the top of her lungs. Probably because I ran up to her and touched her ass. Man, what the hell have I been waiting for all this time?

"That's one sweet ass, Botan," I comment as I'm slapped across the face.

"Hey, I was just kiddin', Urameshi," the dullard defends, crossing his arms, "No need to be a jerkface and go assaulting Botan."

"I'm not sure if you saw what just happened but I think that the one who was assaulted was _me_!" I shout. Good thing I broke away from Kurama. Seems like we are being pretty loud out here.

"What the hell are you all screaming about in here!" Hiei scowls in more of a statement than a question. Well speak of the devil. Literally.

"Well…"

I interrupt Kuwabara by placing my arm around Botan and lie, "Botan and I were making out, then Kuwabara found us and freaked out." Botan's eyelids twitch a bit, but then I pinch her on her side so she knows to play along.

"Then why did _Botan_ screech like that?" Damn, buddy! Quit making a mountain out of a mole hill!

"Oh, you know silly ol' me," she giggles, mimicking me and putting her arm around my waist. Yeah…that's what I'm talkin' about! She squeezes a bit for show then explains, "I just wasn't expecting everyone to find out so quickly! I was so startled, but I guess the cat's out of the bag now! Meow!"

"Yeah, so can everyone give us some privacy?" I play. Hehe, wink wink, nudge nudge.

Kurama motions for Kuwabara to walk away, but they stop when they see that Hiei is unphased by the whole charade. His eyebrows lower, and he stares a hole into me; "You're hiding something."

"How can you accuse us of hiding something!" Botan raises her voice a bit, not letting go of me (Yeah!); "It's bad enough that everyone had to find out and embarrass us like this. We don't need you to come along and bother us too!" Whoa! Botan, if I were you right now, I'd _run_. Hiei looks pretty ticked.

"I'm _sorry_, Botan. But I find it hard to believe that _you_ would find something in the detective!"

"Well, _Hiei_, maybe Yusuke is attractive because _he's_ open about his feelings for people, unlike someone else we know!" 'Spirit World Times; Obituaries: Botan, a bouncy Guide to Spirit World with blue hair who flew around on an oar in a pink kimono. Killed by a jealous demon with three eyes and a katana shoved up his ass.'

"Shut up, you wench. You wouldn't touch the detective with a ten foot oar!" Well, how nice of you, Hiei! I'm glad that you find all of your buddies so revolting!

"You think so, do you?" Uh oh, shouting match coming to it's impending climax…

"I know so!" Ok, Yusuke. Prepare yourself; if you looked shocked about what's going to happen, Hiei's going to know for sure.

As Botan would say, bingo! But man, what's she trying to do, choke me? I mean, I know she's pissed and all, and just doing this for my sake (Double score!), but seriously! Revenge, little lady. I place a 'role-playing' hand on her butt again, but she retaliates by biting my tongue.

"Ugh, that's enough. Disgusting."

"Well, maybe you should shut up and believe us!" I shoot back, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. I get a glimpse of Kuwabara and Kurama as I watch Hiei walk back outside. Kuwabara's jaw is gaped wide open, and Kurama is slowly coming out of cringe.

"_That's so not fair!_" my love-starved friend exhales in a single stifled breath.

"Hehe, well, ya know. Urameshi is _the_ man," I tease back, checking a thumb in my own direction. Kurama breathes a sigh of relief. That reminds me…

"Wow Botan. You just indirectly kissed Kurama!" I spin around to laugh at her, but she punches me square in the nose. Damn, woman!

"You _owe_ me, _mister_." Oooh, pulling out the 'mister' and everything!

* * *

"I was unable to forage anything edible," Kurama announces, "It's really a shame. There must have been some sort of accident, or some other event that caused most of the wildlife around here to be highly toxic. Eating the simplest leaf could send one to the bathroom for hours."

"Well that's great," Kuwabara remarks. You said it, bud. My stomach grumbles loudly in agreement, and then it hits me.

"I know, let's go to town and steal something!"

"Yusuke!" Botan points a scolding finger at me. What? It's not like it's _our_ world, or like the people who run it are even good people.

"That is our only option at this moment," my boyfriend agrees. Boyfriend? That sounds weird the first time. Lover? Nah, we got off that speeding train. Demon ally? That's too Hiei. Friend. Yes. Hot red-haired friend.

"Ya comin'?" Kuwabara asks me. I guess while I was thinking those jerks decided to leave the room. I reply that I am, and we all head to town, after putting on our freaky gifts.

"This one feels bad, guys," Kuwabara says. We've stopped in front of our third grocery store, and he's said the same thing about the first two. He shakes his head and continues, "We shouldn't go in this one either." His stomach rumbles in tune with mine.

"Oh shut up already! You guys stand across the street, I'll be right out!" I declare. Leave it to good old Urameshi! The glass doors of the store slide open for me, and I casually walk into the unsuspecting store.

Hmm… The old lady still had some stuff left in the place, like salt. Salt doesn't go bad right? No, it's a rock, isn't it. Okay, a bag of rice. Rice always puffs up to three times it's size, so a small bag should do. I wonder if they have a frozen food section. That's gonna be fun to try and hide. Shivering and all…

"Hey, you!" Uh oh. Run for it!

I bolt away from the old man in the apron with a nametag attached to it (probably owns the place) and run smack into a tall burly guy.

"Drop it!" he demands, taking the bag out of my coat anyway. He tosses the rice to the old man, who catches it, and growls, "First you little punk, I'm gonna take you to the Neo-Police in Sector B4, and when _they're_ done with ya, I'm gonna pulverize ya myself." Shit. Evasive maneuvers!

"No way!" I yell, punching the guy but stopping short to give him a taste of my spirit energy. I run out of the store and motion for the others to run down the street with me. No one from the store follows me out. We turn a corner and slow our pace.

"No luck, Detective?" Hiei asks. He probably wants to taunt me about it.

"No, and we probably shouldn't go back there again. Had to hit someone to escape."

"Hn. Going to let everyone and your _girlfriend_ starve because you couldn't make off with a bag of rice." There we go. He must've been watching through the windows.

"Told ya I had a bad feeling," the tallest of us says matter-of-factly.

"There's another one over there, across the street," Kurama points with his vision. Kuwabara sighs and claims that he isn't going to even bother warning us anymore, because our stomachs just grumbled together again.

"Well, Kurama is a master thief, isn't he?" Botan stupidly questions, "So maybe he should try this time?"

"Alright. I'll bring back some food for everyone. Stay here." I stare at his form as he casually walks across the street and into the store. So tempting, the way his hair flows in harmony with his gray trench coat. It fits him perfectly, highlighting his broad shoulders and his trim waist.

"What's so interesting, Detective?" Is my staring that obvious? Damn, well maybe if Hiei wasn't so overly obsessed with foxy boy, I mean fox boy, it wouldn't be such a damn problem.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how much I wish you guys would have gone into the store _with_ him so that I could mack with Botan for a while," I retort.

"_I'LL GET YOU!_" a deep throaty voice shouts from across the street. Kurama's dashing at us, motioning for us to run away, his face locked in an expression of terror. King of thieves?

"_DON'T YOU EVER THINK OF COMING BACK IN HERE AGAIN, SHUICHI MINAMINO! I'LL SEND THE AUTHORITIES RIGHT TO YOUR HOUSE! YOU'LL BE IN JAIL FOR A LONG TIME, PUNK!_"

"Go!" Kurama commands us. We dart down the street and turn about three corners before we stop so that Kuwabara and Botan can take a breath.

"That was rather amusing, Kurama." Hiei smirks and stares down the street.

"It appears that my alternate self is quite the delinquent," Kurama notes, "I barely stepped over the threshold before that old man chased me out."

"At least _he's_ in more tune with his demon side," the other demon scathes. Ouch, Hiei!

"Well, since _you're_ so ruthless and speedy, my friend," Kurama jabs back, "Perhaps _you_ should try the next store."

"I don't need food."

"Oh, don't be so _silly_, Hiei," Kurama teases with an absolutely _amazing_ and devilish grin, "I discovered how toxic that bamboo was after watching _you_ get violently ill from eating it."

"Tch," Hiei replies with narrowed eyes.

"Are you two married?" Kuwabara asks, pointing to both of them.

"Fantasize on your own time, Kuwaba.."

"Oh, my wife always gets mad when I tease him in public." Kurama playfully tries to pat Hiei on his head, but his hand is quickly (And painfully, I heard that bone on bone action. Eerm, right.) smacked aside.

"Shut up, Kurama!" he snarls, "I'll go get you idiots your food." He spins on his heel to walk to the store, but turns back and growls at the red-head, "The thought of being married to you is _revolting. _If we _were_ married, _I_ would be the man, and _you_ would be the _wife_. Not only does that disgusting human head of hair suit the role, your rose-flaunting and _inability to provide_ just add to that fact." Holy mother-of-all burns ever. We all stand there in silence and watch Hiei step into the store.

Well, he's been in there for two minutes. He's already doing better than us. I look over at Kurama, and he has his shoulders slumped and is staring at the white cement of the sidewalk.

"You okay Kurama?" After asking, I try and take his hand but he flicks it away. Maybe he didn't realize that I was going to hold his hand?

"I think that I may have taken it a bit too far," he sighs despondently.

"Don't worry about that pipsqueak, he's just being a jerk because he's hungry or somethin'" Kuwabara assures him.

"Yes, and I think that your hair is beautiful!" Botan pats him on the back after paying him the compliment, but he doesn't move.

I reach for his hand again, but this time he jerks it away and utters, "Don't." _Does Kurama actually have feelings for Hiei_? No, that outburst was pretty much how it's been between them recently.

"Hey look! It's that nerd Urameshi!" Say what?

We look in the direction of the voices and there are four people in blue coats, which actually look a lot like the uniforms of my school. Kuwabara mumbles something about them looking exactly like his friends back home, and he's right. The weird thing? There's a tall _chick_ with curly orange hair, which is pulled back in a low ponytail.

I mean, if anyone's ever wondered what Kazuma Kuwabara would look like with tits, they should see what I'm seeing.

"So, Urameshi, did ya finish that homework I gave you?" the girl says (maybe I'll call her Evil Kuwa), poking me in the chest. Her voice is exactly like Shizuru's, Kuwabara's sister.

"Where's the glasses, Urameshi? Trying to impress your two girlfriend's?" That was the fat one.

"What the hell are you guys talkin' about?" I yell back at them.

"Oh, the little boy's gotta big mouth today. Must be trying to show off," Evil Kuwa grins stupidly, just like Kuwabara would right before I kicked his ass, "Teach 'im a lesson in manners, boys." The three other guys crack their knuckles and pound their fists into their palms.

"Uh, guys, you might not wanna do that…" Kuwabara tries to warn his alternate self. Can't blame the guy for looking out for himself.

In thirty seconds I lay the guys flat out on the cement. Evil Kuwa grunts and says, "What the hell, Yusuke?"

"Listen bitch, I'm not Yusuke, and I've never seen you or your boys before, so take a hike." Whew. That should hopefully save me, or him, or whatever. The kids a bookworm, who woulda thought?

"Fine, whatever," Evil Kuwa replies. She motions for 'her boys' to get up off the ground and walks away. She's replaced by Hiei, who is carrying two paper bags in each arm and a plastic bag in each hand. Can hardly see him behind the stuff poking out from the top of the brown bags.

Eer…bags?

"They don't normally give shopping bags to people who steal," I say, reaching for a plastic bag that is barely dangling on his fingertips.

"I didn't steal the food, I stole the wallet that bought the food," Hiei informs us, "An ingenious plan. It's easier to pick a pocket than to stuff all of this under my clothes." Why didn't I think of that?

"Wow, looks like ya really know how to shop, Hiei," Kuwabara remarks as he rummages through one of the bags. Probably annoyed by having the tall guy lurch over him, he shoves the bag into his arms.

"Well, we should head back now," Botan suggests, taking the second plastic bag from the demon, "Thanks a lot Hiei!"

"Yes, thanks Hiei." After thanking him, the previously upset fox tries to copy everyone else and reaches to take the remaining bag from Hiei's arms.

"Tch. Can't let my _wife_ carry the burden." Denied! Kurama looks really pissed now. He snatches the bag from 'my girlfriend' and says nothing.

After several minutes of graveyard silence; no, graveyards are more lively than this; we turn down the final road we'll be on before our turn off for Genkai's place. It's desolate and lined with abandoned buildings. So of course, who do we run into?

Our little triad of new friends.

"Good afternoon, Yusuke," Arumaku greets us. His arm is slung possessively around Alpheratz's waist. Behind them, Mairaku is standing with his arms crossed, looking rather disinterested in the whole encounter.

"What do you jerks want?" Kuwabara asks.

"Nothing. Just walking home. Is that a crime?" the blonde retorts.

"Don't we have time for a little skirmish?" Alpheratz murmurs to Arumaku. The blonde nuzzles the shy-guy and whispers something in his ear that causes his face to turn slightly pink.

"I have time to fight," Hiei announces, setting the groceries on the ground. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and steps forward. He always seems to think that he can take on the world by himself.

"Oh look, Mairaku!" Arumaku taunts, "The pint-sized punk wants to play. Maybe you should take him."

"Yes, as they say in their world, 'Pick on somebody your own size'." Seems like that albino isn't so shy when his demented lovebird is around.

"_Hey, stop right there!_" What's with all the mystery voices lately?

"He's all yours, Mairaku!" Arumaku says, slipping off with his boyfriend. The mystery voice belongs to one of two police officers, which begin chasing them down the street.

"_Being intimate with someone of the same gender is an arrestable offense! You two slow down this instant, and stop holding hands! That's another fine!_" The officers and our enemies, except for Mairaku, turn the corner.

"Are you ready to fight, or what? We don't have all day." Wow, Hiei's sure impatient. He just needs to vent, so if that means taking out a bad guy or two, then that's fine by me.

After watching Hiei draw his sword, Mairaku uncrosses his arms and puts his own hands in his pockets, and states, "I don't want to fight you, Hiei." There is a few moments of silence, almost like they are having some sort of telepathic conversation. Damn freaks. It's like having foreign friends who insist on speaking their own language right in front of you. Not that I've been there personally, but I've seen it on TV.

"Hn. Fine, let's go." That's it? Fine? Let's go? Okay. I'm hungry anyway. Though I wonder what they said.

I hope Hiei doesn't try to book on us.

******--------------**

  


[Author's Note]  
Everyone disappeared when announced that CYOA and YouxBlank stories were not permitted! I'm quite bummed! So thanks to Umi no Oni for his review.  
  
I'm holding of on Chapter 5 until I get a greater feedback. It's an inspiration thing =)  
  
-Zelia Theb  



	5. V: Motivation

Alternate Universe

A _Yu Yu Hakusho_ fan-fiction

By Zelia Theb

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ is the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

The opinions expressed by the characters do not reflect the opinions of myself.

Warnings: Male-Male relationships, cursing, sexual situations, violence, tobacco, drug/alcohol use, and possibly other disturbing innuendo. **Rated R** for these reasons!

* * *

Those idiots are going to barrage me with a dozen annoying questions and remarks about my absence. 'Where've you been, half-pint?', 'Where the hell do you get off up and leaving like that?', 'Hiei, Koenma isn't going to like this!', 'Hiei, you shouldn't leave without telling someone.'.

Perhaps they should leave me alone. If they really cared then they would have followed me. I don't _sense_ any of them, so I must be right. Not as if _I_ care either way. Yusuke already thinks that I am going to betray them all. He might be the only smart one among the group.

I think that is because he may be right. I'm going to get those pendants; it will be their own decision to be there when I return home. If they are not present, then I suppose that it will be betrayal.

It would serve Koenma right if they were all locked in this dimension. Of course, I may have to inform Kurama. I'm certain that he'd like to return to Demon World, or at the _least_ to that human mother of his.

"Hiei, I must say that I'm not surprised that you came." It's Mairaku. The moon reflects off of his hair just as it did last night. It's much more prominent since we are on top of an apartment building, which I am assuming he lives his pitiful human life in.

"You must have realized that you made a horrible mistake when you divulged that information to me," I brazenly reply.

"Let it be known that I have made no mistake, brethren."

"Don't disgust me. Just because you happen to have an ounce of demon blood in your veins does not make you my brethren." Tch, revolting.

"If you wish to believe that…"

"No, there is nothing to believe. You and I are far from even being equals. It's an insult to insinuate such, and I don't take insults _lightly_," I scoff.

"Far from being equals?" He shifts an ebony eyebrow up, then leaps to attack me; "Let us test that theory of yours!" I draw my sword and block his own katana, and we fight back and forth, neither of us making a scratch on the other. Maybe Kurama's inane tactics have seeped into my skin.

"You're testing me, Hiei," he exhales heavily, midswing, "Stop toying around. Don't you _want_ to kill me?"

"You're the one who is toying around, Mairaku." I parry another childish jab; "I just don't want to waste my energy on an opponent that doesn't deserve it."

"Fine," he shouts, flipping backwards. He begins to create a swirling orb of electricity around his right hand, and thrusts it toward me. I flip backwards myself, completely avoiding the laggard attack, allowing it to disperse without a trace into the gravel of the rooftop.

"Is that all you have, Mairaku?" I taunt him, "That is not worthy of my Jagan Eye, but perhaps could stand up against a single finger if you were lucky."

"So then be quick and slay me," he commands me. He reaches into his clothing and pulls out a silver chain carrying a small red sphere, and says, "This is the pendant. You'd have twenty-five percent of your mission complete, Hiei. So kill me!" He stuffs the amulet back into this robes and puts out his hand palm up, inviting me to advance.

Does he take me for some sort of fool? He will be useful in obtaining the location of their leader. He will be the last to go now, seeing as his extreme weakness will allow me to kill him quickly.

"Just as I thought. You need me just as much as I need you in this case," he says, sheathing his sword.

"So you admit that I am just a pawn in your little game," I remark. Any fool could have guessed that much.

"Perhaps much more, Hiei," he states coyly. What the _hell_ is he spewing from that mouth of his?

"From the moment I saw you and your energy in Arumaku's club, I knew that you were something different," he explains, placing his hands casually into his pockets, "That your allies did not deserve your presence; that you were too powerful to even be seen with the likes of _them_." At least he has _some_ of his facts straight. I sheathe my own katana; there will be no need for it either way.

"I discovered how truly merciless you were during that excursion in our back room. The way that you carried yourself, the way that you spoke… It was a clear indicator that you needed to be set free from your binds. You are a worthy rival for me, whether or not you truly believe it." He begins to turn around, once again trusting me enough to turn his back to me; "It would be a shame to let you be trapped in a place that you do not belong. Maybe it's my human blood that causes me to have sympathy for your situation."

"I don't need your pity. You'll discover that soon after I kill you for the final pendant." I have no time to listen to this sickening heart-rending tale of his.

* * *

"Where've you been, half-pint?" Kuwabara shouts.

"Where the hell do you get off up and leaving like that?" I ask. It's nearing midnight and I've missed out on some Kurama-time because these idiots all insisted on standing outside in the damp cold of the night to wait for Hiei to come back. I mean, what the hell? He took off without saying anything to _anyone_.

"Hiei, Koenma isn't going to like this!" Botan scolds him, shaking a classic finger his way. He rolls his eyes as if he was expecting this kind of reaction. So sue us for being concerned about the guy!

"Just because you don't give a damn about any of us doesn't mean that we don't give a damn about you!" I yell at him. He exhales through his nose, probably wondering when the heck this conversation will be over with.

"Hiei, you shouldn't leave without telling someone," Kurama says politely, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not a big deal. One of us should at least be trying to learn more about this world and our enemy," the demon defends.

"We're sorry, Hiei," Botan says, "Way to take initiative! You've been nothing _but_ helpful to us since we've gotten here!" Eer, yeah?

"So what have you discovered?" Kurama inquires, pulling his hand off of Hiei's shoulder.

"Nothing yet, except for the layout of the city. It isn't all _that_ similar to Yusuke's, if you stand at the tallest building and look at it." He goes on to explain that the city is clearly divided into different sections, all square in their shape. In the center of each 'Sector', there is a mid-level building that appears to house the Neo-Police. Not like it matters anyway. If we did manage to get in any trouble, their best defense is some lower class demons, right?

Unless they have a Spirit Detective.

Anyway, it's really strange to hear Hiei explain so much, even though he is doing it in the Hiei way.

"D'ya think smoking is illegal in this world?" I blurt out suddenly.

"Do you always make it a habit to interrupt when someone else is speaking?" Hiei asks me.

"We can only hope so!" Botan answers, angering the short demon more, "You don't need to be smoking, Yusuke!"

"Yeah but he might be a total crab-ass unless he has a smoke, Botan," Kuwabara jumps in, "Which might make it worse on the bad guys!" A vein starts to show on Hiei's forehead, once thought by everyone to be devoid of any sort of wrinkle or disfigurement (aside from that eye).

"Would you three shut up?!" he yells, stomping a foot on the ground.

"They're sorry, please continue Hiei," Kurama apologizes. It's like the guy acts as Hiei's conscience.

"Nevermind. I'm done. You all need rest anyway, even though you've done _nothing_ for our situation aside from some extremely botched attempts at thieving breakfast." He walks away solemnly then quickly leaps up onto a tree branch to sit.

* * *

He brushes some stray red locks from my eyes and kisses my face. I smile and pull him closer with my right arm, resting my hand gently on his hip.

"He's right, Kurama," he whispers to me, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Perhaps he is, Yusuke," I utter back. I lean back on the wall and stare at the ceiling while lightly massaging the hand in my own.

"I mean, I want to go home…and normally I prolly would've tried to get this case done and overwith…" He sighs heavily, leaving a touch of warm air against my neck.

"Our problem is that we don't seem to see a reason to stop them, other than to go home. Really, the threat back home isn't as dangerous as Koenma makes it out to be. The fact that his Spirit Detective is trapped is really what is on his mind," I state.

"Yeah, seems like if we were at home the mission would have been finished," he agrees. A moth flies in through the window and lands on the wooden support beam I've been gazing at.

"So what happens if we don't stop 'em? I mean, we could always just try and come home when they're done." In theory, that seems like the best of the two options, however boring that may be.

"What happens? Yusuke, we don't know this world as well as we assume that we do. It's not our place to pass judgement and allow anarchy just because we agree with our opponent," I pause to rest my chin in his hair, "And you heard how adamant Koenma was about the threat of an S Class demon. What would happen to Hiei and I if we decided to wait?" There is so much to ponder regarding this situation; the only thing that I can advise the group to do is to follow Koenma's orders.

"So tomorrow we go out looking for those punks I guess," he murmurs, nestling further into the curve of my body, "Should be easy. Fight a few weirdos, grab some pendants, go home."

"Yes, go home. That would certainly put all of our minds at ease," I remark.

"Yeah, maybe for you, but not for me," he scoffs, adjusting his position in my lap rather roughly, "Mom's gonna tell me to quit school, then Keiko's gonna bitch about having to debate my future with the teachers, and all that other junk." A chuckle escapes my chest, bouncing his head up slightly and pushing raven strands to my face. I wrinkle my nose, holding back a sneeze from the tickling sensation.

"It's not funny, Kurama!" he says with a raised voice. He looks up at me for a fleeting moment with bright chocolate eyes, then rests his head back down on my chest. I squeeze tighter for forgiveness of my inappropriate laughter, and he answers by placing his lips swiftly on the nape of my neck. The gentle touches of this night have been enough to drive any man insane.

Another chuckle flees from my throat, but this one is much deeper and more cunning. He lifts his head once more and opens his eyes wide in surprise as I capture his lips and furiously pry them apart. As he starts to return the kiss, I lift him in my arms and carry him over to the prepared futon in the center of the room. I let him down carefully but then nearly shove his back onto the bedding and press myself against him.

Following a few minutes of fervent kissing, he lifts me off of him and partly sits up. He suggests, "Okay, time to go to sleep now, don't you think?"

"Actually, I don't," I smirk, placing my palm against his shirt and guiding him back down on the futon. Hmm, clothing is posing quite a problem. I place a firm hand under the cloth and tug it over his head with little resistance.

"Mmm…no Kurama…" he moans.

"Why not?" I question. Perhaps a bit of ear teasing will do the trick.

"Because…we…haven't…" he pants a bit, "Gotten…to know…"

"Don't be _silly_, my sexy sleuth," I whisper, "We've known each other for _quite_ some time now, Yusuke…"

"I mean…we're moving too fast…Ooh…"

"I have an _insatiable_ taste for you right now, Yusuke…" I utter as I gaze at the way his eyes expand and contract at my grinding.

"Just…just a taste…not…"

Anything you say, Yusuke.

* * *

"Botan!" I scream, dashing in to her room and sliding the door behind me, "Help!" She lifts her head then sits up in her futon, but is soon tackled down because of a dive that I 'gracefully' take into her.

"Mmph!" she lets out upon impact. She pushes us back up then says, "What on earth is going on, Yusuke?" I grip her tight in response, darting my eyes back and forth from the window and the door.

"Hide me!" I whisper, ducking under her covers.

She knees me in my gut to get me out, but I disobey. I'm scared! What the heck does she expect? She firmly grabs me by my shoulders and states, "This better not be another stupid excuse to be a pervert!" Boy, I _wish_.

"Just…" I pause as I hear his footsteps coming down the hall, "Hide me!" She reluctantly agrees as the door slides open.

"I apologize for the intrusion, Botan…" his voice says, "But I've lost Yusuke and heard sounds coming from this room…. Have you seen him?" His voice is bewitching and evil. Absolutely evil. Horny? Yes, horny and evil. Botan tenses as she realizes why I've decided to hide.

"No, Kurama, I haven't seen him," she lies, "I woke up because I heard something."

"Oh…" he trails off, not losing that tonality in his voice, "Then perhaps he's stowed himself away in your room…" I hear him walk around, shifting various furniture. The big lump in Botan's futon isn't a dead giveaway, I guess. Maybe it's because she has her knees up and tons of blankets? Nah…I'm tall…

He's messing with me.

"Oh, dear," he sighs dramatically, "I have indeed lost him forever!"

"Oh, you know, he'll turn up somewhere!" Botan chipperly remarks. His footsteps suddenly become closer, and I feel him kneel down at the edge of the futon.

"Oh, _yes_, I'm certain that he _will_." His hand trails underneath the blankets and grabs me by the waist of my pants. Oh no… I'm not ready to get it on with a guy! It's gonna hurt, he's pretty clear that _he_ wants to be…

Wow, so _that's_ what that girl meant afterwards…

I feel Botan wince as Kurama tugs me out from under the blankets. She apologizes as he musters up an incredible amount of strength and tosses me over his shoulder. He exits the room and shuts the door firmly behind him, being cautious not to smack my head into the wall as he turns.

"Kurama…" I whine. Maybe getting involved with a demon wasn't such a good idea. I suppose that their libido is as big as Hiei's hair on a humid day.

* * *

__

[Author's Note]

Holy moly, an update! I even have fanart for this fic now - check out my deviantART account (there's a link in my bio). I'll be uploading the hot Kurama picture soon, right now I just have Yusuke, and then a regular Hiei pic (not exactly fanart for this story). Check them out and feel free to leave comments _there_.

I almost gave up on this due to lack of a response, but that's fine, I want to draw the gothy fanart so I need a story to go with it. Plus I was busy working on my Hiei-Yusuke fic, which I actually have almost completed, but haven't uploaded yet.

A thanks to all who have reviewed - Keep 'em coming! I know this was a semi pointless chapter, it was more of a Hiei thing if it was anything at all. Don't forget - I click on the bios of everyone who reviews, so don't hesitate =).

Self-advertisement #345: Check my bio for a _Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna_ website (Fangirls - light shounen-ai, smart detectives, and hot bishies mixed with an incredibly deep and moving story).

-Zelia Theb


	6. VI: Broken

****

Author's Note: (Feel free to skip down to the chapter!) Yes, the formatting is a bit different (as far as the order of the title and disclaimer). And yes, I am updating. Those who are fans of my other works will remember that I made a vow to complete all of my fanfiction by May.

Also, a big thanks to those who have reviewed and supported Alternate Universe, which has been my biggest _YYH_ "fiction flop" ever. A big thanks to those of you who have yelled at me to keep going. Another thanks to those of you who have added Alternate Universe or my other fictions to your C2 communities.

The story I had down for Alternate Universe is absolutely not going to change. The fates of the characters are already set in stone, and I know for a fact that the general public will not like it. I'm doing it because I put a lot of thought into this story - some might notice that I've used the Japanese romanized spellings for the enemies - if said normally; these names are the names of stars in the constellation Andromeda. The colors that they burn (according to some sort of scientific scale pertaining to brightness, luster, gases burned…etc) are reflected in the enemy's wardrobes and appearance. The enemies are NOT "OC's" just thrown in there. They are deep, and they are essential to the overall plot of the story, which is not just a backplot thrown in to get Yusuke and Kurama together.

Generally, I don't like to point out every little thing that I put into a story. In school we were taught to look for these things ourselves; but one of the main reasons that I had a hiatus on this fic was because I didn't believe that the readers were paying attention to (or at least made mention of) the deep plot of the work. The other reasons have to with the fact that I do not like writing about Kurama-Hiei romances (though I don't mind reading about it). I made Hiei in love with Kurama for a reason here (you'll see). I also got caught up writing Huminshou, which I believe is just about the best thing I've ever written in my life (and wish that I had used it up on an original fic, or at least had someone to make it into a doujinshi).

Please, keep all of this in mind when reviewing. Also, I love of all you, so please don't be offended and don't believe that your review was why I stopped writing this fic for a while. Thanks!

* * *

****

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ © Yoshihiro Togashi

Alternate Universe

By Zelia Theb

* * *

He stares at me blankly; almost surprised that I have returned. Perhaps even more than surprised; happy? Feh.

"Hiei, don't think for a moment that I'm surprised," Mairaku states coldly, eyes glaring at me. Fine, then, what would you have me believe? That you are even less readable than the fox? Impossible.

"Hn," I grunt, "You left a message for me to return, so why is it that you would be surprised I came? Is it possible that this _isn't_ some sort of trap?"

"It is, Hiei," the half-breed admits, "Possible, that is. Though the reason I sent you that message was to inform you…"

"Inform me?" I stop him. Cold wind blows over the gravel of the rooftop; "That the trap was set for the others instead?"

Mairaku smirks; the bastard. I am truly soft. I quickly turn, but as if predicting my blinding speed, he states, "Essentially, but not yet." Inquisitively I let an eyebrow raise, only slightly guarded with my body half-turned toward him, demanding with my gaze that he explain further. He smirks again, then lets it fade, saying, "Alpheratz wants to prove something to Arumaku. He intends on luring the fox into the basement of the city's Neo-Police headquarters with a proposition."

"And?" I impatiently remark, "Kurama would not be so easily tricked, although if he decided to go, your ally wouldn't stand a chance."

"Do not underestimate Alpheratz," he warns, "He is rather cunning, and hopes to play off of Kurama's love for humans." Who's to say that Kurama would care about his mother in this world? Even if he does, I will be there to make certain that he won't make any foolish choices.

"The first trap will be set for the Detective, and the fox is going to rescue him." Everything has stopped. The wind; the sounds in the city; everything.

"Just what are you inferring?" I demand smugly, desperately trying to calm the confusion of silence and pause of time.

"I am inferring nothing," Mairaku informs me, "So I am not really sure what you mean to ask. Does the fox you call Kurama not love the Spirit Detective Urameshi?"

Denial. Utter denial.

"They will all look for him," I retort quickly, a harsh yet hurt tone in my voice. I simply must perfect my technique; surely I have just given Mairaku my weakness.

"They will, I know, but Kurama will insist on going alone, to be Urameshi's hero. Am I wrong? Alpheratz may not be my favorite but I trust his information."

"You are," I reply hurriedly, "There is no explanation as to why Kurama would need to prove anything to the Detective."

"Are they not lovers?"

No…impossible…

__

"Are they not lovers?"

The wind is whipping. The sounds of the city infest my brain like insects. Visions run through the Jagan, and air is depleting from my lungs. The red of Mairaku's garments enters my mind, like a deluge of blood and hatred.

__

"If they are not lovers, then Alpheratz will grow impatient waiting for Kurama and kill the Detective. That is, if you do not inform them of the traps before tonight when it is set."

At least, that is what I believe he said. I have not been on the rooftop for several moments now, and where I head, I do not know.

* * *

I am so glad that I didn't have sex with Kurama. Or, rather, that he didn't have sex with me. Something just _really_ freaked me out about it all; and I can't figure out if I'm really just not all that into Kurama like I thought I was, guilt for Keiko, or something else.

Luckily for me, he's seemed to calm down, even though he actually seems to be a bit upset; almost rejected. I've spent the majority of the morning by his side, and all I've gotten was a cold shoulder; empty responses and a blank gaze. You'd think that he was talking to an opponent or something, because he's been so unreadable and unwavering that I just can't help but think he wants to hide his upset feelings from me.

"Yusuke, I am deeply sorry," he calmly says, his gaze still fixated on the wooden wall of my 'room'. I'm surprised, he's actually starting to talk about it! Gee… I kinda miss Keiko and her "I'm-gonna-tell-you-what's-on-my-mind" attitude.

"I did not realize that you were not in love with me." Um, _What?_ That is _such_ a girl-thing to throw at me. Guilt-trippin' me and then saying it's my fault I'm not in love with him. What the fuck?

Apparently, he's caught on (not that I'm surprised) to my rather pissed off facial reaction to what he said. He sighs and states, "Do not take that the wrong way. It's just that, I do love you, and I was overcome with so many feelings, that I did not even give you a chance to feel as deeply as I do. I desire so much to prove that to you intimately for once; instead of fighting _with_ you and _for_ you by your side." _It's so…strange to be confessed to this way…_

"Yusuke," he continues, moving over to me and staring me head on, "Please allow me to explain." I nod; taking all of this in is just…unusual. He embraces me, nuzzling the top of my head, and only slightly pulls away to look at me as he speaks.

"I know that my years as Youko has allowed me to perfect certain techniques, such as remaining so indifferent that my opponent has a difficult time being able to discover my next move; however, you have all noticed that this applies to Shuichi as well. I cannot help it; it's a terrible habit that I've not been able to get out of."

Kurama…so this is what's behind you.

"Yusuke, you do not judge harshly. You teach everyone that imperfection is perfect; that scars are there for a reason. You…" He stops to kiss me lightly; "You are amazing. I thought that becoming Shuichi would be my second chance; however, along with my mother, in that instant where you saved my life; you gave me my _true_ second chance. Life is not to be lived selfishly, whether it be stealing ancient treasures, or giving up my life so that I will never have to tell my mother the harsh truth."

He stops; is he waiting for me to say something? I have nothing to say. If I could say that I loved someone for all of the same reasons that Kurama…loves…me, then that person'd be…

"Were you ever planning on telling me, fox? Or did you truly want to leave me hanging?" It couldn't be…Hiei? He looks so _sad_. Not like tears and all that quivering and stuff, but his voice is calm and soft, and his stance is neither offensive or defensive.

Kurama? Was he leading him on? What _happened_ between them that I don't know about? He lets me go and stands from our spot, walking over to Hiei; who for some reason still hasn't changed his stance.

"We did not want to anger you," Kurama explains. I sit here, acting like a spectator even though I'm involved.

"Hn," the shorter mutters, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "That must be what all of you believe. That my only reaction to anything would be anger; that I would run around swinging my sword at everyone." Kurama makes a move to interrupt him, but he sighs, "Idiot." Believe it or not, the guy peacefully turns and leaves through the door. So he _does_ have the hots for him.

That was weird. And Kurama wants to chase after him. Well, damn it!

"Oh, I won't stop you," I remark sarcastically. He turns, hair following his moments, and looks at me, begging me to explain my change of emotion, and to make it quick. Hmm, not so unreadable now, are you?

"Kurama, we should wait," I say, now that I've got his full attention. He closes the door, the sound of wood rustling against itself apparent, and walks closer to me.

"Wait on what?" he asks, a strange blend of impatience and anger in his voice.

"On us, I mean, until I feel the way that you do." I can almost hear his heart break, am I really that important? I avert my eyes, I don't think I want him staring at me anymore; "I'm…super attracted to you, it's just…that there seems to be a lot going on now, ya know? I mean…" Damn, Yusuke, redundant much? I'm playing that super-whiny girl role again.

"I just think that I might've gotten myself in to something that I don't know how to handle, as usual, okay?"

He closes his eyes as his shoulders slump slightly, and calmly states, in a voice that I don't think anyone could believe, "I understand. May I leave now?"

"I guess…"

* * *

****

Author's Note

Yes, it's a bit of a dull note; but a predictable set-up to go with Alpheratz plan. Sue me, I have to get back into the flow of the story. If you see a way to improve on the chapter - feel free to leave it in a review! I wrote up a tutorial on writing a good review - you can find it at my Thebes forum in the Author's only section.

Expect action in Chapter Seven.

Zelia


	7. VII: Demons

****

Disclaimer: _Yu Yu Hakusho_ © Yoshihiro Togashi.

Note: Alternate Universe turns one this July!

Note #2: LiveJournal users are welcome to join my YYH community.

* * *

Alternate Universe

By Zelia Theb

* * *

All of this time I have been a fool. As usual. My humanity is _always_ my weakness. So what is this? Why am I running as if I were still the four-legged fox? Weaving between the trees to catch this ebon blur of moonlight?

Do I love Hiei as well? No… but he _must_ love me. And freely, he nearly admitted it in front of Yusuke; someone who he would have previously claimed that he needed no love to. He normally does that. He can never admit his weakness to those he respects (1).

The blur becomes lucid now. Is he weak? Is he…?

"Look out, Kurama!" he shouts at me. I feel it now; we are being ambushed. But by who? I do a handspring on my right hand, and land back to back with Hiei; who leaps forward with his sword as soon as I regain my composure.

A bruised ogre a mite taller than Kuwabara lunges for me. I focus my energy into the grass, waiting for the precise moment…

These are weak creatures. Are they twins? That would account for their synchronization; however, they are still not worthy of being our foes.

Neon sunlight splatters across the mud and bamboo shoots of the forest as Hiei slays the second ogre. My opponent lands and faces me, a look of despair and rage upon his face.

Merely pawns. It's a shame that they must die. _Go_.

"Arrggh!" he lets out as leaves burst out through his ankles and knees. _Die_. I will the mutated plant to race through his heart, and sprout through his ribcage as he falls face forward; as a corpse.

No sooner can I get to the purpose of my pursuit does Hiei remark, "It's beginning. You should go back to him."

"What do you mean, Hiei?" I ask in a frenzy.

"They've set a trap for the two of you." He paces away from me slowly, and I follow him from the bloodied mess as he rests against one of the trees. I seat myself next to him, in face of the urgency within my heart to run back to Yusuke, and wait for him to explain.

Ruby meets coal as he stares up into the calm of the night. I actually hear him sigh in a slip of vulnerability as he says, "They're taking advantage of you. The Detective is in danger."

I make a move to leap, however; Hiei has stopped my by the wrist. He continues, changing the subject; "I don't care, Kurama." Can Yusuke take care of himself? Perhaps…Kuwabara and Botan are there as well; and I don't sense anything else in the area. Hiei must have noticed my concern, and he says, "Not yet. Perhaps they underestimated the Detective, and these louts were actually the ones sent to capture him."

I ask him a question that I should have asked long ago; "Are you angry with me?"

His eyes shift to the side and greet me quickly, before gazing back up into the sky. He replies calmly, "Yes."

A breeze courses through the forest, sending our hair into waves. It calms my nerves and now I can think rationally again. An enveloping sense of clairvoyance takes me by force when I realize that perhaps Hiei did not feel as he thought he did. I need not even request him to explain; he already knows. Perhaps it was this sort of conversation; this lack of explanation through dialogue through which he confused himself.

"I want to go home, Kurama." He crosses his arms over his katana and looks down; "It's not the same as what you described to that boy." Recalling what he said the first time we had ever met, he remarks, "Here's me looking stupid."

Humans are not so unlike demons. I realize now that perhaps it is a demon prejudice to think that being human is disgusting, when all in all our traits, thoughts, and feelings are the same. There are kind demons just as there are evil ones. Hiei…he is just naïve. Mistaken.

"Yusuke and I are not seeing each other, Hiei," I inform him, "He does not feel as I thought. So in a sense, perhaps I should be saying the same." Another thought crosses my mind. Hiei knows much more about Anduromida than the rest of us, and his words lead me to believe that there is an easy way home.

"Hiei," I begin, "Is there something between the two of you?" He knows who I mean, and that is the half-breed, Mairaku.

He chuckles and remarks, "Feh. He wishes." He stands and I follow the motion, pacing ourselves into a steady walk back to the commandeered temple.

"So you'll not betray us?"

"I was going to go alone. If the rest of you weren't around, then it would have been betrayal." My friend grunts as he shoves a hand into his pocket; "Hn. Only to have Koenma send another group after me. It's not worth the annoyance."

This time I am smiling. Hiei doesn't speak so often, but when he does, he can often do it without thinking first; using his emotions as a leader instead of his mind. While I want to tease him for the friendly remark, I realize that he has said something very interesting, leading me to question, "Hiei? What is it that Mairaku has told you? Is there only one method home?"

"Yes."

I'm in shock. Hiei was clearly asked what he knew earlier, and if there was anything else. Maybe it wasn't his emotion that lead him to his treacherous thoughts. Even so, I am thankful to know that his feelings for me were false; for if I was someone as dear as Yukina the circumstance would be different. However…

"I _did_ think of telling you, fox," Hiei quips bitterly, "But at the time those idiots couldn't stop _annoying_ me."

I want to say something. I want to analyze the situation. I want to-

"_Go!_" Hiei shouts to me, breaking into a full-fledged sprint toward the temple. I begin following, my pace hastening when I hear Botan's scream floating on the winds. I _knew_ it! I should have just left earlier! This cursed Shuichi is getting far too annoying to deal with. _Who needs closure_?

"If it's opened in the Demon World, that's where you land," Hiei shouts to me, making sure to get out every last detail of information in case we need to split up.

I ruthlessly tear a branch from a tree as I bound though the forest, "Which is why they need to ritual summon the beasts. Why haven't you slain Mairaku yet?"

The demon jumps over a fallen tree as we reach the clearing and answers, "Hn. Shows how logical _you're_ thinking, Kurama." What?

It is then that Yusuke leaps out of a window, tumbling into the grass and then aiming his Spirit Gun as if waiting for his pursuer. The most pallid of their triad follows soon after, followed by a small legion of bat-like minions. There is commotion from within the dwelling; it is most certainly Kuwabara staving off more of the lesser demons.

It is unusual. The toxic mutation of our surroundings and the tree limb I hold in my hand…Just what _happened_ here to create this?

* * *

Damn it. Damn it. DAMN IT.

Hiei bolts into the place just as this blue _freak_ conveniently binds me in some sort of energy binds. The least the guy could've done was help me break them! I mean, he knows what they are, right? And Kurama…

Why are you standing there like that? What is that look in your eyes?

Stupid move, Yusuke. Get distracted for one second and he tightens up on you. I feel like (and probably look like) a dog on a giant energy leash. Alpheratz tugs down really quick, slamming my body into the ground. Ugh. What the hell is this? I feel like my insides have been shattered.

"Yusuke!" Kurama exclaims in a deeper voice. …The hell? Blood fills my mouth and I start coughing so that I don't drown. Why am I always coughing up blood?

Alpheratz let's out an evilly low and malevolent laugh. Shy guy no more, that's for sure. He chuckles on and on until he says, "I had thought of just making a simple exchange, but this is just too much fun!" With that, he picks me up and slams me down again. I hear footsteps through the tough grass and then feel his foot kick hard into my ribs.

I can do nothing. It's like my aura is restricted, or something. I can't even get up; I can only see Kurama through the blades of grass. It's like I'm in some sorta green barred jail cell. The beating of the bats' wings are starting to go in synch with my heart. And him! Alpheratz keeps laughing…laughing…and laughing! He's mocking Kurama, I just know it. And all I can sit here and do is act like a chick tied to the railroad tracks.

The redhead stares straight into him, gripping tightly to the branch he ran back with. It's jagged at the ends, but fresh and not burnt; like he violently ripped it off of a tree in anger.

Just what are you thinking, Kurama?

__

To Be Continued…

(1) Mukuro. That's not to say that this story is on a timeline. Since clearly, it isn't!

* * *

****

Author's Note

Not much to say here. My goal for this chapter was to do three things.

1) Eliminate the reason I hate this story so much. Which is; and I quote from my own website "Artificial Robot":

__

"The sad news about story status is that I am discontinuing Alternate Universe. Some of you will hate me. Some of you will rejoice. Let's just say this...It isn't a way for me to get out of updating it by May. I just seriously hate that fic. I hate the Hiei-Kurama pairing...well, writing about it that is. I'll read it. When I had written that, I basically made Hiei be in love with Kurama, but not the other way around, because I just wanted to add some tension. I had thought of nothing to back up why Hiei would love Kurama, because there is nothing in the series that proves this or can even give back up to THAT (Now, there's minor evidence that Kurama loves Hiei, but not for Hiei to Kurama). I have a hard time writing the boys out of character."

2) Progress the story to the actual plot; which is for the boys to basically find their way home.

3) Give the small number of fans their well deserved update. Since this is an incredibly unpopular story.

Goal accomplished!

Unusual tidbit about #3. I tend to compare chapter reviews vs chapters to get an average. This story is about as "popular" as Black Suicide, however, I seem to think that Black Suicide has more fans. But the fans of this fic actually _get_ what's going on.

That's it for this story. I just want to clarify one more thing. Fans of Hiei's Textbook Dates seem to think that it had a happy ending. It didn't; it only had a resolution. So go back and reread it with that knowledge, and you'll understand just what I mean!

Zelia


End file.
